{"id":24482,"date":"2016-06-23T05:45:39","date_gmt":"2016-06-23T09:45:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=24482"},"modified":"2016-06-23T11:31:46","modified_gmt":"2016-06-23T15:31:46","slug":"lcms-judge-on-trial-for-her-views-on-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2016\/06\/lcms-judge-on-trial-for-her-views-on-marriage\/","title":{"rendered":"LCMS judge on trial for her views on marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

More on Ruth Neely<\/a>, the Wyoming judge and member of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, who is facing removal from office, plus a $40,000 fine, because she told a reporter that she won\u2019t perform same-sex marriages because of her religious beliefs. \u00a0This, even though she is not obliged to perform weddings at all, isn\u2019t paid for doing so, has never been asked to do a gay wedding, another judge in the community is willing to do it in her place, and the Wyoming constitution specifically says that no one can be removed from public office \u201cbecause of his opinion on any matter of religious belief whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s judicial commission has recommended her ouster, and the case is before the Wyoming Supreme Court. \u00a0More details and updates after the jump, as well as my own thoughts and questions.<\/p>\n

\n

From Michael Avramovich,\u00a0The Sad Tale Of Judge Ruth Neely \u2013 Mere Comments<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

One current case in point that illustrates the \u201cprice of citizenship\u201d involves Municipal Judge and Circuit Court Magistrate Ruth Neely of Pinedale, Wyoming. Pinedale is a small town of about 2,000 residents, and is the gateway to the Jackson Hole area. Judge Neely has served the people of Pinedale well for more than twenty years. Her days were spent in adjudicating traffic tickets, public drunkenness, and other relatively minor offenses.<\/p>\n

But now, Judge Neely has now because a national cause celebre<\/em>. In 2014, Judge Neely, who is a member of the conservative Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod), told a reporter that she would not perform same-sex \u201cmarriages\u201d because of her religious beliefs. Notwithstanding the success of Brokeback Mountain,<\/em> It does appear that no same-sex couples in Wyoming have ever asked her to officiate at a \u201cwedding,\u201d and there is apparently another judge in town who is willing to marry homosexuals. Nevertheless, the Wyoming Commission on Judicial Conduct and Ethics (the \u201cCommission\u201d) is recommending to the Wyoming Supreme Court that it remove Judge Neely from her duties, and order her to pay just a small fine of $40,000 for her intolerance and bias.<\/p>\n

As you can well imagine, Judge Neely is fighting her removal, arguing that she has a constitutional right to voice her opinion. In fact, without apparent irony, the constitution of Wyoming even prohibits the state from finding a person incompetent to hold public office \u201cbecause of his opinion on any matter of religious belief whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as we learn daily, homosexual \u201crights\u201d always trump a Christian\u2019s rights of religion and conscience. Even though small-town magistrates like Judge Neely are not required or even paid by the state to perform weddings, the Commission has concluded that Judge Neely \u201cmanifested a bias,\u201d and is therefore permanently unfit to serve as a judge. If the attempt to remove her from her position is successful, it would be the first time that a judge has been removed from office because of her religious beliefs about marriage.<\/p>\n

[Keep reading. . .]\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Since Judge Neely has never turned down anyone asking for a gay wedding, she hasn\u2019t committed an overt act of what the state defines as discrimination. \u00a0I assume that her removal is sought because her religious beliefs suggest that she has a bias against homosexuals that make her unfit to be a judge. \u00a0So what disqualifies her is precisely her religious beliefs.<\/p>\n

We often speak of someone\u2019s \u201cpersonal religious beliefs.\u201d \u00a0Some people might have a personal belief in gay marriage and someone else might have a personal belief that it\u2019s wrong. \u00a0But there are also religious beliefs specifically spelled out in a religious body that members are expected to adhere to. \u00a0 For many Protestants, just about all of their beliefs are \u201cpersonal,\u201d since their churches often don\u2019t get all that specific in their doctrines and requirements. \u00a0The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, on the other hand, has explicit teachings about marriage, defined in its official documents.<\/p>\n

So if the government decides that not believing in same-sex marriages disqualifies a person from public office,\u00a0and a person voluntarily belongs to a religious organization that publicly teaches against\u00a0gay marriage,\u00a0wouldn\u2019t that be disqualifying? \u00a0And wouldn\u2019t that constitute a \u201creligious test\u201d for public office, which is forbidden by the Constitution?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s consider a bigger example, the Roman Catholic Church, which\u00a0has specific, mandatory teachings that forbid recognition of same-sex marriages. \u00a0Should Catholics, as well as Lutherans, not allowed to be judges? \u00a0Then five\u00a0of the U.S. Supreme Court justices would have to be removed.<\/p>\n

There are far more Catholic judges than Lutheran ones. \u00a0I wonder how they handle this situation. \u00a0Given Catholicism\u2019s view of sin, that co-operating with sin or enabling others to sin is itself a sin, I would think it would be an issue. \u00a0Of course, American Catholics are notoriously free-and-easy about not going along with church teachings, as in the wide-spread ignoring of church doctrine about birth control, so I suspect many Catholic judges do perform gay weddings. \u00a0But wouldn\u2019t that be considered a mortal sin?<\/p>\n

Then again, Catholics also have a system of casuistry that often finds loopholes in difficult moral situations. \u00a0A Catholic judge might reason that he or she is just ratifying a contract rather than performing an actual wedding, since, not being sacramental, it\u00a0lacks spiritual validity anyway. \u00a0Or whatever. \u00a0But I\u2019m curious what canon law would say about this situation, and what the current practice is. \u00a0(Catholic readers, please help us out with this.)<\/p>\n

In any event, Judge Neely\u2019s case would seem to be a clear infringement on religious liberty, if she is considered unfit for public office because of her LCMS beliefs.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More on Ruth Neely, the Wyoming judge and member of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, who is facing removal from office, plus a $40,000 fine, because she told a reporter that she won\u2019t perform same-sex marriages because of her religious beliefs. \u00a0This, even though she is not obliged to perform weddings at all, isn\u2019t paid […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,26],"tags":[4507,1340,1870,4610],"class_list":["post-24482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church","category-law","tag-judge-ruth-neely","tag-lutheran-church-missouri-synod","tag-religious-liberty","tag-wyoming"],"yoast_head":"\nLCMS judge on trial for her views on marriage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"More on Ruth Neely, the Wyoming judge and member of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, who is 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