MONTGOMERY, Ala. (ChurchMilitant.com) – The top judge in Alabama is banning same-sex marriage in the state. In an administrative order issued Wednesday, Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court prohibited any public ministers from issuing same-sex marriage licenses, as the act conflicts with current state law.
The Sanctity of Marriage Amendment — passed overwhelmingly in 2006 by popular referendum, with 81 percent of the vote— amended the Alabama constitution to include the definition: “Marriage is inherently a unique relationship between a man and a woman.” It further states that “marriage contracted between individuals of the same sex is invalid in this state. … No marriage license shall be issued in the State of Alabama to parties of the same sex.”
The Alabama Marriage Protection Act, a state law enacted in 1998, contains similar language proscribing marriage only to a man and a woman.
On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges legalizing same-sex marriage after couples in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee challenged their respective state bans on gay unions. Although some states assumed Obergefell automatically applied to every state, Chief Justice Moore argues this point remains unsettled, and that only those states directly involved in the Obergefell decision are bound by the Supreme Court ruling.
Quoting a federal appellate court in his Wednesday order, Moore writes that “Obergefell directly invalidated only the laws of the four states in the Sixth Circuit.”
After citing similar reasoning offered by another federal court, Moore states: “The above cases reflect an elementary principle of federal jurisdiction: A judgment only binds the parties to the case before the court.”
Since Alabama was not a party to the Obergefell case, the Supreme Court ruling does not apply in Alabama, Moore argues, and therefore current state law remains in force. The administrative order concludes:
IT IS ORDERED AND DIRECTED THAT: Until further decision by the Alabama Supreme Court, the existing orders of the Alabama Supreme Court that Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment or the Alabama Marriage Protection Act remain in full force and effect.
Moore raised a public stir in 2003 when he refused a federal court order to remove a public Ten Commandments display from the supreme court building. Moore himself had commissioned the monument — a carved two-and-a-half ton granite block — and had it mounted in the most prominent place in the rotunda.
The American Civil Liberties Union sued, claiming the monument violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Moore argued that the Ten Commandments, as the “moral foundation” of American law, served to remind the courts and public that “we must first recognize the source from which all morality springs … [by] recogniz[ing] the sovereignty of God.”
Moore lost the case, and was ordered by the federal court to take down the display. Moore’s public announcement that he would disobey the order sparked national debate, with a number of high-profile conservatives — including Representative Alan Keyes and Jerry Falwell — rallying to his defense.
In response to Moore’s defiance, the Alabama Court of the Judiciary voted unanimously to remove him from the bench in November 2003.
Moore spent the following years in several unsuccessful bids to run for state governor, until 2012, when he ran for re-election to the position of chief justice. In spite of being heavily outspent by his opponents and not considered a serious candidate, Moore regained his seat in a surprise win on November 6.
Alabama places no limit on re-elections, but the law prohibits a candidate from seeking re-election once he reaches 70. This will keep Moore from another run for chief justice in 2018, when his term ends.
“God himself is the author of marriage” (GS 48:1). The vocation of marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution despite the many variations it may have undergone through the centuries in different cultures, social structures, and spiritual attitudes (CCC:1603)
Many believe the Freemasons are simply a centuries-old charitable fraternity. However, the Catholic Church has consistently condemned Freemasonry more than any other error in its history because it promotes indifferentism, naturalism, communism, and other dangerous philosophies.
Michael Voris gives a series of short talks, answering questions coming in response to his talk on homosexuality in Nigeria.
In this talk from Nigeria, Michael Voris speaks about the grave evil presented as good – homosexuality. Catechism of Catholic Church teaches that, “Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity (cf. Gen 19:1-29; Rom 1:24-27; 1 Cor 6:10; 1 Tim 1:10), tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” (CDF, Persona humana 8). They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved” (CCC: 2357).
The Cost of Abortion & Contraception Deception click below:
Michael Voris talks an in-depth discussion of the true, financial cost of abortion and its effects to the United States. Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that, “The inalienable rights of the person must be recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. These human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents; nor do they represent a concession made by society and the state; they belong to human nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights one should mention in this regard every human being’s right to life and physical integrity from the moment of conception until death” (CDF, Donum vitae III; CCC: 2273).
Contraception & the New Dark Age, Part 1-4: Where we are & How we got here by Dr. Martin Brenner click below:
We are used to thinking of the Rockefellers as simply a byword for wealth, power and financial success. Perhaps we might think of them as determined businessmen or see them as great philanthropists. But the truth is far different; the Rockefeller Foundation is actively undermining the Catholic Church, and in the process, attempting to erase man’s natural orientation to the eternal.
Are the environmental movements and groups simply devoted to laudable, correct stewardship of God’s creation, or do they have a more sinister, hidden agenda? Is “global warming” being used as an excuse for something far darker? Is the final goal of the liberal elites behind the push of junk science population control, eugenics and Gaia worship?
Mic’d Up “Is Contraception Killing the Church?” click below:
This week on Mic’d Up we’ll be tackling the terrible scourge of Contraception on the Church. Michael Hichborn and Rey Flores from American Life League will join us to expose Catholic Relief Services complicity with Organizations who support contraception and to Discuss The Pill Kills Day of Action 2014. Also joining us will be Lynn Mills who will be discussing the continued prayer rally at Providence Park Hospital in the Archdiocese of Detroit because of their complicity in abortion, contraception and sterilization. Following that same thread we’ll break down the announcement from Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron concerning the crisis of parish closings facing Detroit. Also dropping by will be author James Kalb, to discuss the plague of pluralism on the Church’s Hierarchy.
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The American Civil Liberties Union sued, claiming the monument violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Moore argued that the Ten Commandments, as the “moral foundation” of American law, served to remind the courts and public that “we must first recognize the source from which all morality springs … [by] recogniz[ing] the sovereignty of God.”