Government Forces Churches to Conduct Gay Weddings

The country’s parliament voted through the new law on same-sex marriage by a large majority, making it mandatory for all churches to conduct gay marriages.

Denmark’s church minister, Manu Sareen, called the vote “historic”.

It’s certainly that.

“Marriage is as old as man himself, and you can’t change something as fundamental,” the party’s church spokesperson Christian Langballe said during the debate. “Marriage is supposed to be between a man and a woman.”

Karsten Nissen, the Bishop of Viborg, who is refusing to carry out the ceremonies, has warned that the new law risks “splitting the church”.

Nah, it won’t really split the church. It will destroy it. Or at least, send it underground. Christians in Denmark will have to go crypto pretty soon.

Denmark isn’t quite the United States. It has an official Evangelical Lutheran Church that is supported by taxpayer money. This bill is not limited to the state-run church. All churches in Denmark must comply.

Here’s a fun twist: Manu Sareen of the Danish Social Liberal Party is the parliamentarian who pushed the bill that forces churches to perform same-sex weddings. Sareen is also the minister for ecclesiastical affairs. But he isn’t much of a man of faith.

“The debate has been really tough,” said Mr Sareen, an agnostic who has pushed hard for the legislation since taking his post last autumn.

Denmark offered civil unions for gay couples in 1989. That wasn’t enough. The Danish church tried to reserve the definition of marriage to itself. That didn’t work. Now Denmark’s agnostic minister of church affairs is forcing every Danish church to violate what’s left of its teachings.