"Oh-oh-oh-oklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plain...."
....and whistling right right through the empty heads of its state legislators, in one ear and out the other"
OKLAHOMA CITY (RNS) -- In an effort to block the state’s involvement with gay marriage, the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday (March 10) to abolish marriage licenses in the state.
The legislation, authored by Rep. Todd Russ, R-Cordell, amends language in the state law that governs the responsibilities of court clerks. All references to marriage licenses were removed.
Russ said the intent of the bill is to protect court clerks caught between the federal and state governments. A federal appeals court overturned Oklahoma’s ban on same-sex marriage last year. Russ, like many Republican legislators in the state, including Gov. Mary Fallin, believes the federal government overstepped its constitutional authority on this issue.
Acknowledging that his bill is partially in response to the federal court ruling, Russ told ABC News affiliate KSWO that the federal government lacks the power to “force its new definitions of what they believe on independent states.”
Russ said the federal government is attempting to change the traditional definition of marriage, so his legislation would place the responsibility for officiating marriages in the hands of clergy.
“Marriage was historically a religious covenant first and a government-recognized contract second,” Russ told The Oklahoman.
The legislation has sparked controversy, both in the Legislature and with groups such as Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Oklahoma Democrats are concerned that the legislation will lead to a “Pandora’s box” of issues, including polygamy, once the government’s authority to regulate marriage is removed.
Americans United released a statement opposing the bill, saying it is biased against same-sex couples and nontheists, including atheists. Russ has been unapologetic in defending his exclusion of nontheists from the right to marry.
“They don’t have a spiritual basis for a marriage and don’t want to have a clergy member or a priest or someone involved in the spiritual aspect,” Russ told KSWO, “then they can file an affidavit of common-law marriage.”
The bill would require court clerks to issue certificates of marriage signed by ordained clergy or affidavits of common-law marriage.
The Senate has not yet voted on the measure. Nor has Gov. Fallin indicated what she will do if the bill passes the Senate.
Source
If there was a "grasping at straws" tag, this story would definitely be a candidate for it. "Political grandstanding" also comes to mind. Because this feeble attempt to avoid compliance with a Federal court order is both of those things. If it's enacted into law, it will obviously prompt the immediate filing of many lawsuits. (Unleash the atheists and I'll make popcorn, because it's going to be quite a spectacle!) That will lead to a stay of putting the law into affect while the issues are hashed out in the courts, which will in turn lead to the law's being struck down when it gets to Federal Court (if not before).
The people behind this would have to have the i.q. of houseplants to think this is actually going to be allowed to stand. Which they of course don't; they just want to be able to point to this and say to their constituents, "Look how hard I worked at trying to keep the government in our state from having to issue marriage licenses to them nasty gayz!" That's the real purpose of this bill. And the purpose of this post is to point and laugh at the absurdity of it all.
P.S. Mods, do you need help? As a frequent poster, I haven't been able to help noticing that it can take...a while...for things to show up sometimes. If the problem is a lack of people to do the work, I hereby volunteer!
OKLAHOMA CITY (RNS) -- In an effort to block the state’s involvement with gay marriage, the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday (March 10) to abolish marriage licenses in the state.
The legislation, authored by Rep. Todd Russ, R-Cordell, amends language in the state law that governs the responsibilities of court clerks. All references to marriage licenses were removed.
Russ said the intent of the bill is to protect court clerks caught between the federal and state governments. A federal appeals court overturned Oklahoma’s ban on same-sex marriage last year. Russ, like many Republican legislators in the state, including Gov. Mary Fallin, believes the federal government overstepped its constitutional authority on this issue.
Acknowledging that his bill is partially in response to the federal court ruling, Russ told ABC News affiliate KSWO that the federal government lacks the power to “force its new definitions of what they believe on independent states.”
Russ said the federal government is attempting to change the traditional definition of marriage, so his legislation would place the responsibility for officiating marriages in the hands of clergy.
“Marriage was historically a religious covenant first and a government-recognized contract second,” Russ told The Oklahoman.
The legislation has sparked controversy, both in the Legislature and with groups such as Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Oklahoma Democrats are concerned that the legislation will lead to a “Pandora’s box” of issues, including polygamy, once the government’s authority to regulate marriage is removed.
Americans United released a statement opposing the bill, saying it is biased against same-sex couples and nontheists, including atheists. Russ has been unapologetic in defending his exclusion of nontheists from the right to marry.
“They don’t have a spiritual basis for a marriage and don’t want to have a clergy member or a priest or someone involved in the spiritual aspect,” Russ told KSWO, “then they can file an affidavit of common-law marriage.”
The bill would require court clerks to issue certificates of marriage signed by ordained clergy or affidavits of common-law marriage.
The Senate has not yet voted on the measure. Nor has Gov. Fallin indicated what she will do if the bill passes the Senate.
Source
If there was a "grasping at straws" tag, this story would definitely be a candidate for it. "Political grandstanding" also comes to mind. Because this feeble attempt to avoid compliance with a Federal court order is both of those things. If it's enacted into law, it will obviously prompt the immediate filing of many lawsuits. (Unleash the atheists and I'll make popcorn, because it's going to be quite a spectacle!) That will lead to a stay of putting the law into affect while the issues are hashed out in the courts, which will in turn lead to the law's being struck down when it gets to Federal Court (if not before).
The people behind this would have to have the i.q. of houseplants to think this is actually going to be allowed to stand. Which they of course don't; they just want to be able to point to this and say to their constituents, "Look how hard I worked at trying to keep the government in our state from having to issue marriage licenses to them nasty gayz!" That's the real purpose of this bill. And the purpose of this post is to point and laugh at the absurdity of it all.
P.S. Mods, do you need help? As a frequent poster, I haven't been able to help noticing that it can take...a while...for things to show up sometimes. If the problem is a lack of people to do the work, I hereby volunteer!