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| Matt Barber lies about gays (again.) |
Never mind reading the entire thing because its his usual psycho wannabe John The Baptist babble. However, the first sentence caught my attention and should catch yours:
Churches in Denmark are now compelled, by law, to host same-sex "weddings."
Even on a technical basis, Barber is wrong. I recognized that sentence from an earlier article I posted in my news briefs. At the time, it was Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association spinning this lie:
According to the London Telegraph, a new law passed by the Danish parliament "make(s) it mandatory for all churches to conduct gay marriages." No options, no exceptions, no choice. Homosexuals are to be married wherever they want, regardless of whose conscience is trampled and whose sanctuary is defiled in the process.
Sarah Jones for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State refuted Fischer:
While it is certainly true that in Denmark, same-sex couples have a legal right to be married in a church in some cases, Fischer neglects to mention the reason why that is so: Denmark has a state church. The law applies quite specifically to that state church.
“With the legalization of gay marriage, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark [which is the state church], is required to allow same-sex couples to marry in churches,” the Pew Research Center notes in a 2013 explainer on same-sex marriage laws around the world.It’s hardly a blanket rule: Pew goes on to state that other religious groups are exempt from the law.
Catholic churches, for example, aren’t required to host same-sex marriage ceremonies, a fact the Vatican noted just this week. “For the moment we [the Catholic Church] are not worried,” Niels Messerschmidt, a representative of the Catholic Diocese of Copenhagen, told Vatican Radio.
Fischer omitted this crucial fact in his fear mongering, as did Matt Barber.
And how much do you want to bet that if any speaker at the National Organization for Marriage's silly march later this week brings up this law (because they probably will), the truth behind the meme they will spin about "churches are being forced to marry gay couples in Denmark will magically elude them?
The sad part about the entire lie is that in the comments section of One News Now where Barber's mess is published, the true story is pointed out. However it still doesn't dissuade the notion from some folks that gays are plotting to force churches to marry them.
On that note, the entire blame for this lie can't be shouldered by Fischer or Barber.
When you have people so willing to scared in spite of being told that their fears are groundless, who can blame Barber, Fischer, or any anti-gay spokesperson for taking advantage of their stupidity?
3 comments:
Frankly, I don't like that even state churches can be forced to marry them. And to be quite candid, I'm not 100% convinced that marriage is right & proper for LGBTQ Christians. Yes I support it, yet I still can't fully accept & embrace it. And regardless of State church or not, pastors, priests, bishops, etc., should be allowed to claim exceptions based on their beliefs & convictions.
Well everyone has a right to their opinions about marriage. Personally I totally support marriage for lgbtqs - Christian or not. Now in the matter of churches, if the PARTICULAR church is run by the state and is funded by tax dollars, then it really isn't fair for said church to discriminate against a section of taxpayers. If the churches don't want to follow the rules of state, then they shouldn't be state run churches.
It's really weird to argue about religious freedom here. The existence of a state church is contrary to the most basic principle of religious freedom. Full stop. Everything after that point is garbage.
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