By Dan Calabrese ——Bio and Archives--July 11, 2015
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A Toledo judge who declined to officiate at the wedding of two women Monday has apologized to the couple for a 45-minute delay, explaining that his “personal and Christian beliefs” compelled him to ask that another judge step in. Judge C. Allen McConnell said he was awaiting guidance from the Ohio Supreme Court on whether he may be excused from a rotation of judges handling matrimonial duties at Toledo Municipal Court, but was willing to “continue to perform traditional marriages.” After the court’s judges decided today to resolve the situation by putting only two judges in charge of all civil marriages, however, that guidance appears to have become moot, The Daily Signal has learned. And in a twist to what some critics suggested was an intolerance to gays and lesbians that interfered with his duty, McConnell has said the nation’s civil rights struggle inspired him to rise from a coal miner’s son to a lawyer and judge who championed decent housing for all.This follows reports of county clerk employees asking to be excused from issuing marriage licenses, and in at least one case resigning altogether, and of course the bakery/florist/photographer incidents that by now everyone has heard about. Let's understand what the gay marriage people tried to assert here, and why they wildly missed the mark. Their operating premise is that the right of gay couples to marry each other is the moral equivalent of the black men who were turned away at the lunch counters of the south in the '50s and the '60s. And in order for that equivalence to work, opponents of gay marriage have to be the moral equivalence of Bull Connor and George Wallace, or the Ku Klux Klan. The secular left has nor problem whatsoever buying into any of this. Disagree with them on this issue and they'll let loose with all the bigot/hater talk you'd expect to see reserved for the likes of David Duke. The problem, of course, is that the civil rights judge who reads his Bible, or the bakery owners who follow Jesus, or the county clerk employee who just wants to live her faith . . . have nothing whatsoever in common with the racist troglodytes of that bygone era. They don't hate anyone. They don't condemn anyone. They don't wish anyone harm. They just recognize that God gave us a moral code, and while they know it's not their business to force you to adhere to it, they also aren't willing to play any part in helping you break it. A black judge who has spent his life working on behalf of people who were being denied their civil rights is a pretty hard sell as a bigot. But the gay marriage has to make that sale if they're going to maintain the upper hand in the cultural struggle. America's prevailing culture is shallow and amoral, but most individuals are not so stupid that they can't see the difference between a cross burner from the '50s and Judge C. Allen McConnell. Good luck trying to slander this guy, Gaystapo. I'm not sure even your media allies can help you pull that one off.
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