LafayetteLady
Posts: 7683
Joined: 5/2/2007 From: Northern New Jersey Status: offline
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I'm a bit confused by the article. Does the couple live in Miami or nearby Springfield? The reason I ask is because if they are from Miami, it would be more indicative of a "set up," where they knew the situation and tried to make an issue of it. Not that it makes much difference, but I am curious about that. Regardless, the clerk could have avoided the whole thing by "delegating" (her words) ALL marriage licenses to the deputy and requiring ALL people seeking a license to make an appointment. There is always a lot of talk on these boards about how "private businesses" can choose to discriminate in this way. No one would say that if they were discriminating against a minority couple, or a couple of two different races. Yes, a church can refuse to perform wedding ceremonies, but they also can refuse to marry people who are not of the same faith. They aren't a "public" business. The term "private business" is kind of an oxymoron. If you serve the public, you may be privately owned, but you still cater to the public. Marriage is not a religious thing. When the "over lords" and kings and such controlled it, they were the government at that time. Early days of the Bible, marriages occured and they had little to do with religion. So the concept that marriage in and of itself is mixing government and religion is false. Both sides seem to be intentionally pushing a test case. The town clerk will likely lose her case, although the ruling may come down that all marriage license applicants are required to make an appointment. In any case, I think that the guy who is running against her will likely take her position. For Christ's sake, she works a whole nine hours a week, yet the article makes it appear as though she has done so much, managing three town databases and keeping their website up to date. If all that takes just 9 hours a week....well, I don't think it would be difficult for anyone else. Oh, and the pill does not cause a miscarriage unless specifically used for that purpose with larger doses. Birth control pills essentially fool the body into thinking it is already pregnant thereby preventing fertilization of a new egg. It will be interesting to see how this case plays out in the courts.
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