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Just a legal pondering from someone who is not a legal scholar. Sharing because others might find it interesting.

I was just reading a little bit about The Scopes Monkey Trial, which I haven't looked at since high school and I really wonder if it can be used to advance gay rights and freedom from religion in general. Specifically this statement from the decision from Chief Justice Grafton Green:

“Examination of these contributions indicates that Protestants, Catholics, and Jews are divided among themselves in their beliefs, and that there is no unanimity among the members of any religious establishment as to this subject. Belief or unbelief in the theory of evolution is no more a characteristic of any religious establishment or mode of worship than is belief or unbelief in the wisdom of the prohibition laws. It would appear that members of the same churches quite generally disagree as to these things.”

If the court has the precedent that a religious belief that divides members of a faith cannot be held as a characteristic of a religious establishment and there are “Protestants, Catholics, and Jews” that support gay marriage, cannot that be an attack against the BS that is “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” and the cascade of BS that comes from it.

DJVJ311 7 Jan 9
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Please , What is a BS?

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Shit, I can't even figure what tags I'd apply to this post. I sort of get your point but until I look up the 'Religious Freedom Restoration Act' thinking about this makes my head want to explode.

It's the name of a law in many states that allow people to deny service based on their religious beliefs. Like that state employee in Florida who refused to issue wedding licenses to gay couples and such. Also, the Hobby Lobby birth control debacle. The federal law was found unconstitutional, but states are doing it now.

[en.wikipedia.org]

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Having read this through three times, just to make sure I understood, I tend to find your logic sound.

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Doesn't make sense.

The supreme court only decreed that evolution must be allowed to be taught because some Catholics, some Protestants and some Jews believed in evolution, therefore creationism couldn't be treated as a "characteristic" religious belief. The same logic says that since some churches and some temples will perform gay weddings, it is not a "characteristic" religious belief. If it is not a characteristic religious belief, then it shouldn't be grounds for denial of service based on the precedent of the highest court.

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