WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 6, 2014The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld marriage laws in four statesOhio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennesseein a 2-1 ruling. Circuit Judge Jeffrey Sutton wrote the majority opinion. The ruling creates a split among federal circuit courts, increasing the likelihood of a U.S. Supreme Court review.
Russell Moore, President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, reacts to the 6th Circuits decision:
This circuit split means that the Supreme Court’s ignoring of this issue will not be able to continue, Moore said. The people of the states have the right to recognize marriage the way virtually every human culture has, as the union of a man and a woman. The Supreme Court should affirm this right, for all fifty states.
Moore recently held a national conference for evangelicals, The Gospel, Homosexuality and the Future of Marriage, designed to equip attendees to defend marriage in the culture and strengthen marriage in the church. He has also been invited by the Vatican to speak at a November colloquium in Rome, where he will provide an evangelical Protestant perspective on marriage and familyjoining Pope Francis and religious leaders from all over the world.
The Southern Baptist Convention is Americas largest Protestant denomination with more than 15.8 million members in over 46,000 churches nationwide. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is the SBCs ethics, religious liberty and public policy agency with offices in Nashville, Tenn., and Washington, D.C.
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