Idaho: ministers face fines, prison for refusing to preside at same-sex wedding
October 20, 2014
In Idaho, a Protestant couple who operate a non-denominational wedding chapel have been told that they must solemnize same-sex unions or else face imprisonment.
Donald and Evelyn Knapp, who operate the Hitching Post Wedding Chapel in Coeur d’Alene, have been informed that their refusal to perform a wedding for a same-sex couple was a violation of the city’s non-discrimination ordinance. They could be faced with a 6-month jail term, and fines of $1,000 daily for their refusal.
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Posted by: feedback -
Oct. 21, 2014 9:45 PM ET USA
It went so quickly from harassing wedding cake bakers to jailing ministers. This should have been a discussion topic at the Synod on Family.
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Posted by: -
Oct. 21, 2014 10:47 AM ET USA
This is why we should never try to avoid jury duty, but instead do everything we can to be chosen. Sure, it's a big headache, but it's often a better way than the ballot to change bad laws and bad culture. In the U.S., Northern juries acquitted people who helped runaway slaves, which the Fugitive Slave Act made illegal. Time for a history re-run.
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Posted by: garedawg -
Oct. 21, 2014 10:44 AM ET USA
Worst case scenario, there will be two ceremonies: one at the Church, and one at the courthouse. I know an older Catholic couple who were married in France in the 50's, and having two separate ceremonies was the procedure even back then.
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Posted by: bernie4871 -
Oct. 20, 2014 7:05 PM ET USA
Well, here we go. If a Protestant 'minister' is taken on first, then it will be much easier to get the Catholic Church into court. I wonder if this whole gay thing will force our marriage ceremonies into private affairs followed by civil formalities. That would take the Church out of the public role in establishing families. The Devil is amazingly cunning.
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Posted by: james-w-anderson8230 -
Oct. 20, 2014 6:46 PM ET USA
This is a sign of things to come for all of us!
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Posted by: TheJournalist64 -
Oct. 20, 2014 6:31 PM ET USA
We need a clear statement from all the U.S. bishops forbidding priests and deacons from doing this. In which case, we will all have the defense that we cannot do anything that the bishop forbids, and they'll have to throw the bishops in jail. That would be the confrontation that will ultimately stop this unnatural nonsense, at least for Catholics.
