GOP Rep. Courser thinks it's essential to fight for "more liberty" and "more freedom" ... except for people he doesn't like.
This is straight out of the realm of the bizarre—conservative Michigan lawmakers are proposing a religious takeover of the ability to perform marriages in the state. GOP Rep. Todd Courser wants to take state officials out of the business of issuing marriage licenses and performing weddings altogether. Why? Eclectablog
explains:
The goal here is to make it as hard as possible for same-sex couples to find someone willing to marry them.
That's because clergy can refuse to perform marriages that go against their religious beliefs. Here's Rep. Todd Courser
on his bill:
Right now, as it sits with the decision from our U.S. Supreme Court looming, our elected officials could be forced to perform same sex marriages; if this happens then the liberal left will use this Supreme Court decision as a hammer to advance their liberal agenda. [...] This bill simply put will end our elected official’s involvement in performing marriage ceremonies.
It's just awful, isn't it? Once we open the floodgates on gays making lifelong commitments to one another, they'll probably want job protections and stuff.
This guy couldn't be a bigger hypocrite if he tried. From his campaign website:
"Todd believes it is essential that we fight for more liberty, more freedom, less taxes, less government and more jobs."
What he's actually proposing is wielding government to restrict the freedoms and liberties of people with whom he doesn't agree. It's the conservative way.
Courser's bill is one of three. Here's how Equality Michigan described them in an email to supporters:
4731 says that only opposite sex couples only can get married in secret.
4732 says that marriages can ONLY be performed by ministers of the “gospel” clerics or religious officiants
4733 says that marriage licenses must be issued and signed by clergy.
