NORTH CAROLINA: Six Magistrates Have Quit Rather Than Perform Gay Weddings

"I prayed about it; I asked for wisdom. I think our hearts have been led away by the cares of the world, our desires, and ultimately, our intense arrogance – our hubris – against the Lord. We've rejected the prime authority of the scriptures, something our Nation's Founding Fathers, such as John Adams, knew better than to do. In both the Old and New Testaments, homosexuality is something the Lord does not approve of, and since He doesn't, I could not put the sanction of the state on a relationship that runs afoul of scripture. I hate to wax it so biblical but it says 'what good is it for a man to gain the whole world but lose his own soul'? So, that's the stakes I put on this." - Bill Stevenson, one of six North Carolina magistrates who have now resigned rather than perform same-sex weddings.

RELATED: One of the former magistrates has joined the state GOP campaign to make it legal to refuse to marry gay couples.

Four days after announcing his resignation, John Kallam returned to the Rockingham Country courthouse for a rally alongside North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger and 500 fellow residents, all supporters of true marriage. Berger vowed to fight for religious freedom protections for magistrates who oppose same-sex “marriage.” “Here, in Rockingham County, forcing Magistrate Kallam to give up his religious liberties to save his job is just wrong,” Berger said at the rally. Berger and 27 other Republican legislators have asked the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts to protect state officials who refuse to participate in gay marriages because of religious beliefs. He told the Winston-Salem Journal that plans to introduce a bill to allow state officials to opt out of issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples or conducting gay “marriages” if doing so would violate their religious beliefs.