Death of religion as we know it?

It's a sad state of affairs when you feel inclined toward a certain position because of counsel given to you and people dub you a hater.

We went to the Temple last Saturday for a beautiful sealing ceremony (congrats to the Bartholomew fam) and there were people protesting outside with a sign that said "Love Deniers Shame" listed downward with emphasized "LDS". I was happy for them to exercise their freedom of speech and was glad that my freedom of religion was not imposed upon by people blocking my way in.

In reading a lot about Proposition 8 in California, a certain scenario came to light that I could very much see happening. I don't know if I read about it in one place or if it was a culmination of ideas, but I don't claim full ownership of the idea. Tell me what you think.



Imagine that gay marriage is legalized. Gay members of a church ask to be married in any of the number of those churches that don't allow for homosexual relations. Those churches would naturally decline to perform such marriages. The couple sues the church for denying their now legal right. The church is ordered to perform the marriage or stop performing marriages altogether.



I would guess that this could happen in any and every church in the United States, whether or not the church is based in the US. Sadly, I don't think that the huge majority of the people who are for gay marriage would ever think to do such a thing; but it doesn't take a majority to do this. I wonder how many people knew about the case against the Catholic adoption agency in Massachusetts that closed down because a gay couple wanted to adopt and, through the courts, forced the agency to place with them or close. It's always the radicals of any cause that blow for the rest of the respectful believers.