Topic: CNSNews.com
A June 25 CNSNews.com article by editor-in-chief Terry Jeffrey uncritically reports a claim by New York's Catholic bishops that in the wake of the passage of a gay marriage law in New York, "they now expect efforts to enact laws that go after churches that insist on teaching the 'timeless truths' about marriage and family."
Jeffrey did not mention that the New York gay marriage law contains numerous exemptions for religious organizations. From The Advocate:
The bill, which legalizes civil same-sex marriages in the nation’s third most populous state, passed the Democratic-controlled Assembly last week with exemptions for religious institutions and benevolent organizations, such as the Knights of Columbus, that do not wish to solemnize the same-sex marriages or provide their private facilities for the events. Republican leaders in the Senate demanded stronger protections, which resulted in more than one week of negotiations between three of their members and Cuomo's office.
The negotiations yielded revised language introduced Friday in a chapter amendment by Assembly member Daniel O’Donnell, the gay Manhattan lawmaker who sponsored the legislation, at the request of the governor. In addition to the religious corporations and benevolent organizations submitted in the original bill, the amendment adds non-profit corporations under their control and employees. It further stipulates that refusal to solemnize same-sex weddings or provide services in connection with them will not result in “any state or local government action to penalize, withhold benefits or discriminate” against the entities.
Jeffrey also failed to cite any existing examples of states that have passed "laws that go after churches that insist on teaching the 'timeless truths' about marriage and family" in the wake of approving gay marriage -- perhaps because no such examples exist.
