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The Spectacle Blog

New Jersey Mad at the Methodists

By W. James Antle, III on 1.2.09 @ 3:11PM

The New Jersey attorney general's civil rights division is going after United Methodists for allowing one of their facilities in the state to be used by the general public for weddings but not same-sex civil union ceremonies, in accordance with church discipline. The United Methodist Church isn't some fringe fundamentalist sect, but the largest mainline Protestant denomination in the country.

When I wrote a while back that the Rick Warren flap revealed that some supporters of same-sex marriage seek to "completely marginalize opposition to same-sex marriage and treat traditional Christian beliefs about human sexuality as morally equivalent to racism or anti-Semitism," some commenters protested that the same could be said for opponents of same-sex marriage. One, attempting to rephrase my initial post, suggested that social conservatives "treat traditional libertarian/liberal beliefs about human sexuality," whatever those are, "as morally equivalent to nazis or fascists."

I'm sure you can find plenty of intemperate statements along these lines by individual social conservatives opposing same-sex marriage. But I don't know of any who wish to use civil rights or hate crimes laws to in effect criminalize the beliefs of the other side. When anti-sodomy laws (which I strongly opposed) fell earlier in the decade, there was no significant socially conservative campaign to reinstate them comparable to the campaign to reinstate the antiabortion laws that existed prior to Roe v. Wade. Yet churches that continue to adhere to their traditional teachings are subject to legal harrassment unless they want to become the legal equivalent of a small private club or cigar bar.

View all comments (11) | Leave a comment

J David| 1.2.09 @ 6:03PM

Radicals will ALWAYS keep pushing until they meet an immovable force, which they have not yet met, and considering the present pragmatic criminals and perverts running the country, probably will not.

The happy ending is that when a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ dies he/she goes to a FAR better place than this, and they are able to "turn the other cheek" as God-hating, atheistic perverts and venal scumbag politicians who have only this life cannot.

J David| 1.2.09 @ 6:33PM

By-the-by, WHAT IN THE WORLD IS UP WITH THE QUEER GOOGLE ADDS??!!! Is the Spectator so hard up for money they have to let that filth air on a "conservative" site?

ruth| 1.2.09 @ 8:01PM

AmSpec, thanks for treating us to photos of two love-handled guys getting up-close and personal with each other.

vincep1974| 1.3.09 @ 6:22AM

No one has any control over what ads google serves.

Google ads work by reviewing the web page and then compiling some keywords and then finding ads that match those words.

This done by computer. there's no way for AS to change it. (That I know of)

Bob| 1.3.09 @ 2:05PM

So do they allow Hindu or Buddhist weddings? Do they allow atheists to use their facilities? It seems to me that these probably don't adhere to church teachings either. If it is used as a public facility, then they cannot discriminate.

The answer to this, of course, is just make it available to Methodists. Perhaps they could hang out a "Christians only" sign, but then Episcopals could have gay weddings there. Again, if they make these facilities available to the general public, then they must abide by the laws of NJ.

ruth| 1.3.09 @ 5:51PM

Vince, I noticed that the ad was gone after we posted our snarky complaints. It was a good one.

vince1974| 1.3.09 @ 6:23PM

ruth: Now I see an ad for gay accountants with weak chins who want to get married

ruth| 1.3.09 @ 7:39PM

Thanks for the visual--I was trying to ignore the ad.

Bob| 1.4.09 @ 9:00AM

Listen guys, just use Firefox with the CustomizeGoogle and AdBlock add-ons and you'll never see those ads. I also use AdMuncher. That way I can concentrate on making Ruth happy....