THE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn
All 50 states have begun issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, Baptist Press reports, even those in which officials disagree with the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 26 ruling to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide.
“We don’t have a choice but to comply,” said Louisiana Governor and presidential candidate Bobby Jindal, “even though I think this decision was the wrong one.”
In Texas, the state’s attorney general said “numerous lawyers” are willing to defend officials who refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses and therefore could face lawsuits and fines. Gov. Greg Abbott said, “Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, Texans’ fundamental right to religious liberty remains intact.”
Read the full story at BPNews.net. And here’s a state-by-state update from CNN.
The Supreme Court’s decision continued to dominate headlines over the weekend, as Christian leaders and others offered a range of perspectives on what the country now faces:
- Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore and a coalition of evangelical leaders released “Here We Stand: An Evangelical Declaration on Marriage” in response to the Court’s ruling.
- Moore also blogged about how parents should talk to their kids about same-sex marriage. “First of all,” he writes, “make no mistake: you should talk to your children about this.”
- Pew Research has an extensive timeline of how the marriage debate developed across the United States. The researcher also weighs in on how the ruling could affect religious institutions.
- Blogger and LifeWay editor Trevin Wax offered the top 10 quotes from dissenting justices. #4:”People of faith can take no comfort in the treatment they receive from the majority today.”
- The Illinois Baptist State Association outlined resources available for churches following the ruling.
In other news:
Six people were arrested after heckling Houston pastor Joel Osteen during a church service Sunday.
Among Barna’s findings on women and church: While only 5% name church or religious activities as their top time commitment, 22% say that’s the area of their life they’d most like to improve.
Almost the same number of Americans believe Islam is a threat to religious liberty at home and abroad, LifeWay Research reports in a new survey.
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