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House Committee Hears Testimony on Pastor Protection Act

By: Associated Press
Posted on: Thursday, February 11, 2016

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – An Ohio House committee has heard from some of those who favor of a bill that would allow churches in Ohio to deny performing same-sex marriages.

The Pastor Protection Act was introduced in the House three weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision allowing same-sex marriage last year.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that 22 people spoke in favor before a House committee on Tuesday.

Ernie Sanders, pastor of the Doers of the World Baptist Church, called the Supreme Court’s ruling “tyranny and treason against God and country.” He said the country is “suffering a severe mental illness of Biblical illiteracy.”

The bill’s sponsor, A. Nino Vitale, an Urbana Republican, says it’s not an issue of discrimination, it’s about protecting pastors.