While searching this site for some clips of an interview with Chris Daughtry, I came across an article about a pastor in North Carolina who is staging her own objections to the way her state government handles marriages.
http://www.myfox8.com/...
The pastor at Wake Forest Baptist Church said she doesn't believe the state government is treating people equally, which is why she refuses to fill out marriage licenses for any couple, a job members of the clergy have the power to do, along with certain state employees.
With all of the (deserved) media coverage going to the fallout on the recent ruling in California on Proposition 8, I just wanted to make sure that this particular protest got some attention here on Daily Kos. I'm sure that the good reverend has had to encounter plenty of discrimination of her own, as there are still a lot of people in the religious community who still don't give female clergy the same level of respect as their male counterparts.
I've always felt that it's smaller protests like this in local communities that really help change people's mind even more than the big flashpoints that can happen nationally. I'm not a religious person in general, but it's the continued discovery of people like Reverend Parker that reminds me that I can't let myself focus on the bad apples and overlook those who truly see religion as a means of expanding love and tolerance, and not as a means of discrimination in any fashion.
Edited to highlight other stories of similar stands:
ChocolateChris points to this story in Rochester, NY where ministers at the First Unitarian Church are making a stand:
http://www.rnews.com/...
ForFreedom points to this story from back in April, after the ruling in Iowa on gay marriage:
http://lasvegassun.com/...