HR8404 is another step toward taking our religious freedoms away, and it proves that Congress has no respect for the Constitution or religion.
Disrespect for Marriage Act: Attack on Religious Practices
Politicians have always used the separation of church and state argument as a means to overturn religious morality. Like everything else, the idea of separation of church and state is a deliberate misinterpretation of the First Amendment that states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." The First Amendment was written to protect religious organizations from Congress--not suppress religious morality like politicians use it.
"Disrespect for Religious Morality Act" because it's deliberately designed to erode religious morality
Basically, the First Amendment means that Congress can not legally pass laws to restrict, limit, alter or abolish a religion. By the same token, Congress can't pass laws that incorporate religious practices into government by codifying it. However, regardless of the First Amendment, the gay lobby, through Jerry Nadler, concocted legislation that will codify the religious practice of marriage. It's called the Respect for Marriage Act, HR 8404, although it's designed to undermine the religious practice of marriage.
Furthermore, codifying a religious practice like marriage, and expanding it to include same sex unions, violates the First Amendment; what politicians call the separation of church and state. If Congress gets away with codifying marriage, then there is no such thing as the separation of church and state. Every member of Congress that supports HR8404 has chosen to trample the First Amendment, just like they did when they passed the Patriot Act, that government agencies use to spy on Americans.
That's why it wasn't surprising to see Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Mike Lee and others listed as sponsors of HR8404. It's a fact that, regardless of party, politicians always come together to pass legislation that infringes on our freedoms or erodes religious morality. The Respect for Marriage Act, like all legislation that goes through Congress these days, is a lie. It should be called the "Disrespect for Marriage Act" or the "Disrespect for Religious Morality Act" because it's deliberately designed to erode religious morality.
Moreover, codifying marriage is another power grab, power over religion, because states like California, Nevada, Oregon and others already allow same sex unions. In the past, most state legislators recognized the fact that marriage came from the Hebrew Bible and other religious sources. That's why they created civil unions instead of expanding the religious practice of marriage to include same sex unions. They know that all religions condemn same sex marriage with the exception of Satanism and new age churches.
In fact, states that allow same sex unions originally called it "civil unions" because the religious practice of marriage has always been defined as the union between a man and a woman. Only Colorado calls same sex unions marriage. And some churches, like the Presbyterian Church (USA) redefined marriage as “a commitment between two people." Other churches like the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, the Episcopal Church and the United Church of Christ allow same sex marriages.
Although new age churches allow same sex unions, all bibles, including the Quran, classify homosexuality as a sin. Leviticus 20:13 calls same sex relationships an abomination, yet certain churches teach that the Bible doesn't condemn or forbid homosexual relationships or marriage. Churches that allow same sex marriage are ignoring the Bible just like Congress ignores the Constitution. Neither of them are good practitioners.
HR8404 will allow corrupt officials to label our religious beliefs discrimination, and empower them to use the power of government to persecute us for our religious beliefs
We don't have to attend churches that ignore the Bible. However, we have no choice but to conform to laws passed by Congress, and that should concern us all. HR8404 opens the door for corrupt government officials and courts to deny us the right to freely exercise our religious beliefs. HR8404 will allow corrupt officials to label our religious beliefs discrimination, and empower them to use the power of government to persecute us for our religious beliefs. In fact, lawsuits have been filed against individuals that refused to participate in homosexual unions because of their religious beliefs.
One lawsuit argued that the bakery, that refused to decorate a cake for a same sex union, was engaged in a public business and public businesses are not allowed to discriminate under federal and state law. Instead of respecting the individuals religious beliefs, and going to another bakery, the homosexual couple wanted to force the individual to participate or pay them damages for discrimination. When courts are used to force people to do things that violate their religious beliefs, that's not religious freedom. The gay lobby wants to take away our religious freedom, and that's the purpose of HR8404.
Finally, politicians claim that HR8404 is necessary because the gay community has been discriminated against, and that warrants codifying the religious practice of marriage. In reality, the purpose of HR8404 is to infringe on religious freedom. In short, HR8404 is another step toward taking our religious freedoms away, and it proves that Congress has no respect for the Constitution or religion. That's why I call HR8404 the Disrespect for Marriage Act because that accurately describes its intent.
Charles Wills -- Bio and
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Charles Wills is a retired Engineer.
Since retirement, he has devoted much of his free time to reading and researching
world and biblical history. He enjoys reading and collecting old books, especially
textbooks published before the turn of the 20th century, as well as writing about the
wealth of information hidden in them.
