Candidate for Miller seat: ‘Well-orchestrated plan’ to force same-sex marriages in churches

Republican Congressional candidate Alan Sanborn of Macomb County said this weekend that he believes the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of same-sex marriages is the first step in a “well-orchestrated plan” to force ministers to perform gay marriage ceremonies in their churches.

Appearing on WDIV-TV’s “Flashpoint,” Sanborn, a former state senator, said he suspects that the IRS will initiate the next step by removing the tax-exempt status for churches that refuse to marry gay couples. At that point, clerics would be forced to choose between financial difficulties for their church or setting aside their religious objections to gay marriage.

Sanborn, who is running for the 10th Congressional District seat being vacated in 2016 by Rep. Candice Miller, did not specify who he believes is behind the plan. It appeared that he was referring to the Obama administration working at the behest of the LGBT community.  

Legal experts have said that the historic Supreme Court decision does not impose any mandates on churches. But under Sanborn's theory, the IRS’ control over tax exemptions could be used to “pick winners and losers” among U.S. churches, creating a division between those preachers willing to marry gay couples and those who refuse. At that point, the Richmond Township Republican said, the feds would have essentially created a form of “state-sponsored religion.”

According to the former lawmaker, ministers he has spoken to are afraid that, in addition to losing their tax-free privileges, they could face lawsuits or “even be charged with a hate crime” if they don’t follow the Supreme Court’s lead.