TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Governor Robert Bentley’s (R-Ala.) pastor Dr. Gil McKee reportedly sent the Governor a message about same-sex marriage earlier this month: “Governor, I don’t care if all 49 states go for this same-sex marriage business, let’s be different in the state of Alabama.”
Gov. Bentley has been a member of Dr. McKee’s congregation for years, formerly serving as a deacon and Sunday school teacher.
In a February 8th sermon at the Tuscaloosa First Baptist Church Dr. McKee exhorted Governor Bentley to remain a strong proponent of traditional marriage in the face of mounting pressure from federal courts, according to a report by the Christian News Network.
“Let’s do what we know is the right thing to do. If you’ll just step up and lead out in this thing, if you’ll give the word to our chief justice to call all our probate judges … and say, ‘Don’t you issue one single license until the federal government does their thing and until we decide whether we’re going to follow that or not; don’t issue one of them,’ I’m telling you the people of this state would rally behind that.”
Though Bentley has previously said he was disappointed by federal judge Callie Granade’s ruling, he has more recently revealed that he won’t take action against probate judges who do issue same-sex marriage licenses, despite Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore’s request that he enforce the state’s gay marriage ban.
Last week, Gov. Bentley told Politico he would “never do anything to disobey a federal court ruling,” when asked about Alabama’s response to the recent legalization of same-sex marriage in the state.
“We are a nation under laws,” Bentley said. “We may not always agree with them, but we obey them.”
Dr. McKee reminded his congregation that the Bible’s laws should be followed before the laws of men.
“There’s nothing grey about this issue—not if you’re going to go with what God says, and God has made it clear that marriage is between one man and one woman, period, and that settles it,” McKee said. “The issue is, are we going to go with God, or are we going to go with somebody else?”
“[Alabama State Representative] Rich Wingo, the rest of the legislature, Gov. Bentley, Chief Justice Moore, the rest of you folk, Luther Strange—as one citizen of this state, I am asking you as confessing committed Christian men to do the right thing no matter what the consequences,” McKee said. “Do it.”
“Somebody said, ‘What’s the right thing?’ The right thing is you stay with God’s definition of marriage, and if they drag us to court, if they drag us to jail, if they drag us to D.C., come on and drag us,” McKee continued. “Because I can tell you as Peter and John said, ‘I will obey God rather than men.’”
The US Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of state gay marriage bans early this summer.
While Governor Bentley has already signaled he will uphold whatever the US Supreme Court rules, at least one Alabama public figure, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, is on the record saying he’s not sure what he’ll do if the nation’s highest court strikes down Alabama’s Sanctity of Marriage amendment.
“It would be a very hard decision, because I know there’s nothing in the US Constitution that authorizes the Supreme Court of the United States or any federal court anywhere to misinterpret the word marriage to include something outside that,” Chief Justice Moore told radio host Matt Murphy. “Whether it’s about the equal protection clause, the due process clause, or the full faith and credit clause. They’re making these things up and they’re ruling on social matters… quote to me the Constitutional provision that gives the United States government the power to redefine marriage? You can’t find it.”
Dr. McKee is hoping guidance from his preaching, and support from other evangelicals in the state will help the Governor change his mind.
“My encouragement to him two weeks ago was to not only get on board with Judge Moore, but to instruct him as our governor to tell our probate judges not to abide by this one federal judge,” McKee told Christian News Network. “And obviously he had not taken that counsel at that time from me or anybody else.”
“I’m trying to do everything I can do to encourage and to help him understand the support he would have biblically, [and also] the support he would have from the people in this state.”
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— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015
