GAY MARRIAGE-RELIGION
Next gay marriage fight: religious exemptions
Alarmed by the broad expansion of same-sex marriage set in motion by the U.S. Supreme Court, religious conservatives are moving their fight to state legislatures.
They’re seeking exemptions from providing service or benefits for gay spouses for wedding vendors like bakers, florists and photographers and faith-affiliated groups that rent their properties for wedding receptions. Exemptions also are being sought for religious charities that provide adoption and other social services, and for individual religious objectors like justices of the peace and government clerks.
But winning religious exemptions will be an uphill battle. Public attitudes against exceptions have hardened, and efforts by faith groups in states where courts have imposed same-sex marriage have had little success.
Sound:
244-v-34-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)–Alarmed by the broad expansion of same-sex marriage set in motion by the U.S. Supreme Court, religious conservatives are moving their fight to state legislatures. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (14 Oct 2014)
< 245-c-20-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)-“is largely evangelical”-AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports that state legislatures may be asked to pass religious exemptions to recognizing same-sex marriages. (14 Oct 2014) < VATICAN-FAMILY Catholic bishops take distance from gay document VATICAN CITY (AP) β Conservative Catholic bishops are distancing themselves from a document showing an unprecedented opening toward gays and divorced people, saying it doesn’t reflect their views and vowing to make changes to the final version. The provisional document produced at the halfway point of a two-week meeting on family life says gays have gifts to offer the church and that their partnerships, while morally problematic, provide gay couples with “precious” support. It says the church must welcome divorced people and recognize the “positive” aspects of civil marriages and even Catholics who cohabit. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Thomas Rosica says the bishops want to avoid words like “intrinsically disordered” or “living in sin. But amid an outcry from conservatives, organizers of the synod insisted Tuesday that the document was merely a working paper that would be amended. Sound: 203-a-06-(The Reverend Thomas Rosica (ROHZ’-ee-kah), Vatican spokesman, in AP interview)-“what we’re teaching”-Vatican spokesman the Reverend Thomas Rosica says the bishops are seeking a softer approach to people who aren’t living according to church doctrines. (14 Oct 2014) < 204-a-04-(The Reverend Thomas Rosica (ROHZ’-ee-kah), Vatican spokesman, in AP interview)-“is teaching us”-Vatican spokesman the Reverend Thomas Rosica says the document reflects Pope Francis’ views. (14 Oct 2014) < 201-w-34-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with the Reverend Thomas Rosica, Vatican spokesman)–Conservative Catholic bishops are distancing themselves from a Vatican document showing an unprecedented opening toward gays and divorced people. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (14 Oct 2014) < 202-a-15-(The Reverend Thomas Rosica (ROHZ’-ee-kah), Vatican spokesman, in AP interview)-“can be better”-Vatican spokesman the Reverend Thomas Rosica says the bishops are trying to change their tone with gays and divorced people. ((longer version of cut used in wrap)) (14 Oct 2014) < US-EBOLA-NURSE-PLASMA-TRANSFUSION Ebola survivor donates plasma to sick Dallas nurse DALLAS (AP) β A Dallas nurse who has Ebola has been given plasma to fight the virus taken from the blood of a doctor who beat the disease. The Rev. Jim Khoi, pastor of the Fort Worth church attended by Nina Pham’s family, said she received a transfusion of plasma containing Ebola-fighting antibodies Monday afternoon. Samaritan’s Purse confirmed the plasma came from Dr. Kent Brantly, the missionary doctor who survived Ebola. Brantly contracted Ebola while working with the nonprofit medical mission group in Liberia. Samaritan’s Purse spokesman Jeremy Blume says Brantly traveled to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas Sunday to donate the plasma. Brantly said in a recent speech that he also offered his blood to Thomas Eric Duncan, but that their blood types didn’t match. Duncan died of Ebola on Wednesday. NORTH KOREA-US-TREATING TB US charity helps NKorea fight drug-resistant TB WASHINGTON (AP) β An American charity named after a Presbyterian missionary is increasing efforts against an epidemic of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in North Korea, where it says it is making inroads in fighting the deadly disease. The Eugene Bell Foundation travels to North Korea twice yearly despite worsening U.S.-North Korean relations, bringing high-end equipment and drugs to treat TB patients at old-world facilities. The disease has found fertile ground in North Korea, where the population has been weakened by malnutrition since a famine in the 1990s. The Eugene Bell Foundation returns this month on a three-week mission to help hundreds of patients. Its namesake was a missionary to Korea starting in 1895. It seems an unlikely partnership: a Christian-based organization teaming up with an authoritarian government intolerant of religion. Yet the foundation, which does not proselytize, says it has a good working relationship with the North and its doctors. PASTOR-ADULTERY ACCUSATIONS Lawsuit: Pastor knew he had AIDS, had affairs MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) β An Alabama church wants to remove a pastor accused of having sex with congregation members while infected with AIDS. Deacons and trustees of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church of Montgomery filed a lawsuit Tuesday against their pastor of 24 years, Juan D. McFarland. Church leaders say McFarland confessed in two recent sermons that he was diagnosed with AIDS in 2008 and that he had sex with an unspecified number of female congregants in the church building without telling them about the virus. The lawsuit says that after attempts to remove McFarland as pastor, he and a church member changed the building’s locks and control of its bank accounts. The lawsuit accuses McFarland of “debauchery, sinfulness, hedonism, sexual misconduct, dishonesty, thievery and rejection of the Ten Commandments.” US-PRIEST-SEXUAL-TOURISM Priest pleads not guilty to sexual tourism charges JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) β A Pennsylvania priest has pleaded not guilty to charges that he possessed child pornography and traveled to Honduras for sex with poor street children during missionary trips. The Rev. Joseph Maurizio entered the plea Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith Pesto in Johnstown. The 69-year-old remains jailed, though Judge Pesto gave lawyers 10 days to return with information about the priest’s finances, at which point Pesto says he may reconsider releasing the priest pending trial. Defense attorney Steven Passarello tells the judge the priest will agree to freeze two investment accounts worth $900,000 and surrender his passport to address concerns he may flee prosecution. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Haines says investigators found another account from which Maurizio withdrew $127,000. Passarello says that money will pay for the priest’s defense. US-ATHEIST-PAROLEE-RULING California to pay atheist parolee $1.95 million SAN FRANCISCO (AP) β The California government will pay $1.95 million to an atheist and former parolee who went back to prison after refusing to participate in a religiously tinged inpatient treatment program. The Record Searchlight reports Barry Hazle Jr. of Redding and his attorney announced the settlement Tuesday in San Francisco. A federal court ruled last year that forced participation in a religious program had violated Hazle’s constitutional rights. The 46-year-old Hazle served a year in prison on a drug charge and after being released in 2007 was ordered to take part in a rehab program. His parole agent arrested him on parole violation after he refused to participate in the program. After serving three more months, Hazle sued the state corrections department. OIL PATCH-PALIN Palin: ND embodies ‘drill, baby, drill’ mantra WILLISTON, N.D. (AP) β Sarah Palin says North Dakota embodies the “drill, baby, drill” mantra more than anywhere else and shares a kinship with Alaska. The former Alaska governor made the remarks at a fundraising banquet for Williston, North Dakota’s, Trinity Christian School Monday night. “Drill, baby, drill” refers to the slogan Palin popularized during her 2008 run for the vice presidency and encourages the production of domestic oil and gas. Palin told the crowd of several hundred that North Dakota and Alaska both have “a pioneering spirit,” adding that the two states also are both oil producers. She said, “You feed America and you fuel America, North Dakota.” Palin was joined at the fundraiser by evangelical historian David Barton. His speech largely looked at the detrimental effect the removal of the Bible from public schools has had on education and society. SPRINGFIELD-DISCRIMINATION ORDINANCE Springfield approves nondiscrimination ordinance SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) β After years of debate, the officials in Springfield, Missouri, have approved a bill that expands the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance to include protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. The Springfield City Council voted 6-3 Monday to pass the stronger of two proposed ordinances on the issue. The change, which prohibits discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations, takes effect immediately. Calvin Morrow, spokesman for an opposition group called Springfield Citizens United, said an effort would begin immediately to gather signatures for a referendum petition that, if successful, would put the issue to a public vote. He said the petition would need 1,200 valid signatures, and he expects that it’ll get 1,000 on the first day. According to LGBT advocacy group PROMO, Springfield is the 15th municipality in Missouri to add the protections.
