Really? US Pastor Jailed For Refusing To Join Gay Couple

 

A pastor at the Christian Proctor
Church in Vermont, has been
sentenced to one year in federal
prison after refusing to marry a gay
couple.
This comes shortly after the Supreme
Court’s 5-4 decision ruling that states
must allow gay-marriage.
The Christian Pastor, 56-year-old Paul
Horner, had his lawyer speak to
reporters on his behalf.
“We are currently disputing the guilty
verdict and I am confident my client
will be a free man here shortly,” said
attorney Tom Downey. “Horner was
just using his best judgement
according to his rights and religious
freedom in this country.”
The Honorable Myron Danus handed
down the harsh sentence.
“Religious freedom goes both ways,
Mr. Horner,” Danus told a packed
courtroom. “It is not your place to
deny individuals the same rights that
everyone else has, rights that were
passed down and agreed upon in a
court of law, the ultimate court, the
Supreme Court. It is not your decision
whether or not you agree with the
law but more importantly that you
follow it and enforce it.”
According to the criminal
investigation, the Christian Proctor
Church is registered with the state as
a “religious corporation” limited to
performing “one-man-one-woman
marriages as defined by the Holy
Bible.”
But the church is also registered as a
for-profit business and city officials
said that means the owners must
comply with state and federal
regulations.
Steve Shand president of the Vermont
Family Research Committee, said it is
“open season on Americans who
refuse to bow to the government’s
redefinition of marriage.”
“Homosexuals are gay,” Shand told
reporters. “Why should Christian
ministers be forced to perform and
celebrate any marriage that conflicts
with their beliefs? It’s a slippery slope
my friend. Pretty soon these same
pastors will be forced to wed animals
or kitchen appliances. This is not my
America!”
Gwen Hawkins who is president of
the LGBT Pride Center in Vermont
said she is happy with the guilty
verdict.
“We just want the same rights as
everyone else and this guilty verdict
sets a great precedent,” Hawkins said.
“These fanatical Christians base their
life on one verse in the Bible but they
seem to forget the other 99% of the
verses in the book.
For example, why can’t we stone to
death Bristol Palinfor having a baby
out of wedlock? And what about her
mother, Sarah Palin, breaking the
rules of Corinthians 14:34 which
clearly state that as a woman, she is
not allowed to teach or to assume
authority over a man; she must be
quiet.
But no, they like to pick the one verse
in the Bible about gay people and
build their camp around it.”
Proctor is a town in Rutland County,
Vermont, United States. The
population was 1,741 at the 2010
census. Proctor is home to the
Vermont Marble Museum and Wilson
Castle.

Source: NBC