Local pastors respond to first Madison Co. same-sex marriage
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JACKSON, Tenn. — For the first time, a same-sex couple is issued a marriage license at the Madison County Clerk’s office and within an hour are married. Just three days after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states, Joyce Tines and Laranda Murrell, a West Tennessee lesbian couple, married mere minutes after receiving their license. The couple said they are thankful to finally be able to legally marry. “Everybody has the right for the pursuit of happiness in America,” Tines said after the ceremony. “That’s what we were given — the right just to be treated like a normal human being and not different.” But for many local pastors, Monday marked a sad day as they stand firm that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. “If the nation of the United States makes a law, we’re to abide by that law until it comes to affect what we believe in, and we have a right to our belief as well as theirs,” said Charles Robinson, pastor at Devout Temple Holiness Church. “The biggest problem we have is not a economical problem. The biggest problem we have is a sin problem,” Robinson said. “God hates sin. He don’t hate the sinner. He hates the sin.” Other church leaders said the church’s role is to show love, not hate. “The challenge for the church is finding a loving way to take a stand for what is and what is not correct and right,” pastor at Highland Park Church Paul Riddle told WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News Monday. “Hate is not the message that Christ had,” Riddle said. “It’s a message of love and acceptance, but it’s balanced with some things are right and some things are wrong.” As for the newlyweds, they said it is love that really matters. “If you love the person that you’re with, nobody can tell you different,” Tines said.
