Marriage bill is beginning of battle for religious freedom

By Neisha Roberts
The Alabama Baptist

It’s one step in the right direction, Eric Johnston said, but unless Alabama’s Legislature “takes a whole bunch of other steps in the right direction then (passing House Bill 56) doesn’t even matter.”

The bill, also known as the “Freedom of Religion in Marriage Protection Act,” passed through the state House of Representatives on March 12 with a 69–25 vote and moved to the Senate for consideration. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jim Hill, R-Moody, is meant to give judges, ministers and other officiants the right to refuse to perform marriage ceremonies based on their religious beliefs.

Dubbed discriminatory, unnecessary and a waste of taxpayer money by opponents, the bill is just the beginning in the battle for religious freedom, said Johnston, attorney for Alabama Citizen’s Action Program.

“Opponents of the bill do not understand what the bill does and it’s because they don’t want to,” he said.

Gay “marriage” supporters are not simply fighting for their rights, Johnston said. “They want to force everyone to agree with them and accept them. They don’t want anything less than us being required to accept them and their sinful lifestyle.”

Christians need an exception in the law, Johnston said, so they do not have to participate in something that they believe is wrong.

“Marriage is just one issue,” Johnston said. “Everything about our culture is based on the model of a family with one man and one woman. When you begin to chip away at the meaning of family you begin to change the whole culture.”