Vermont

Lisa Miller has already been missing for at least three weeks with her daughter, having disappeared before being required to transfer custody to her former partner due to her consistent refusal to abide by court-ordered custody arrangements.

Today, a hearing was held in Vermont on whether Miller should be held in contempt of court for going missing with her daughter and for some reason the judge decided to give her another 30 days to show up:

A judge is giving a Virginia woman at the center of a lesbian custody dispute 30 days to appear in court with her 7-year-old child or face a contempt of court finding and possible arrest.

Vermont Family Court Judge William Cohen made that ruling Friday in the long-running custody dispute between two women who were once joined in a civil union.

Janet Jenkins, of Fair Haven, had asked Cohen to hold in contempt Lisa Miller, of Forest, Va., her former partner, for not turning over the child, Isabella, to her on Jan. 1, as she had been ordered.

The couple broke up in 2003, and Miller moved to Virginia, renounced homosexuality and became an evangelical Christian.

Miller's lawyer says she doesn't know where Miller and Isabella are.

Today seems to be one of those days where right-wing activists and commentators are just letting loose over their fears of seeing America destroyed by the gay marriage gains in Iowa and Vermont - how else do you explain pieces like this one from Eric Schumacher, pastor of Northbrook Baptist Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which showed up on Baptist Press?

The Flood of 2008 is arguably the most destructive disaster that the state of Iowa has seen -- at least, that is, until last Friday.

On April 3, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a state law limiting marriage to one man and one woman violates the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution. Licenses will be issued to homosexual couples April 27.

It is not hyperbole to say that this ruling has the potential to be the worst disaster to strike the state of Iowa.

Flood waters destroy houses, ruin offices buildings and displace families. Yet, recovery happens. Houses are rebuilt. Businesses relocate. Families eventually find housing.

Legalized "homosexual marriage," on the other hand, does far more pervasive and irrecoverable damage. Civilization itself is eroded as marriage, the central building block of culture and society, is redefined. Soon, our sons and daughters are confused about what it means to be male and female, as "homosexual marriage" gains both legal status and visibility in neighborhoods and the classroom.

Far worse, the Gospel message is confused. Marriage is established by God to be a living picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the husband representing Christ and the wife representing his church. "Homosexual marriage" presents a distorted picture, a false Gospel, promoting a blasphemous message.

Flood waters erode the soil. "Gay marriage" erodes the soul. A flood impacts for a decade. "Same-sex marriage" destroys generations. A flood draws a community together. "Homosexual marriage" tears the family apart. Communities recover from floods. The promotion of un-natural unions has an eternal consequence.

The Religious Right really is in a full-blown panic at the moment.  If you need more proof, head over to Good as You and listen to the audio posted of Mat Staver responding to the Vermont vote in which he declares that "it is a sad day in America when elected officials are absolutely clueless about the definition of marriage [and] if they can't understand this basic human relationship between a man and a woman, then they absolutely are not competent for public office." He goes on to call upon the people of Vermont to "rise up in revolt" and says that "what we are seeing in America is literally the beginnings of another revolution" from the "silent majority" who will draw a line in the sand, leading to "another American Revolution."

Reactions from the Religious Right to the Vermont marriage vote are starting to roll in and I am going to post them here and will keep adding them to this post as I find them:

Family Research Council:

"Same-sex 'marriage' is a movement driven by wealthy homosexual activists and a liberal elite determined to destroy not only the institution of marriage, but democracy as well. Time and again, we see when citizens have the opportunity to vote at the ballot box, they consistently opt to support traditional marriage," said Perkins.

"The vote today by the D.C. City Council was a direct affront to the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The radical Left wants to destroy the traditional union of one man and one woman across the country and they will not rest until they do so.

"The marriage amendment movement has been many times more successful than the same-sex 'marriage' movement," Perkins said. "FRC will continue to stand with those states which are seeking to pass marriage protection amendments and other measures in order to protect our most fundamental and essential social institution."

Liberty Counsel:

Mathew D. Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, commented: "It is a sad day in America when elected officials are clueless about the definition of marriage. If they cannot understand this basic human relationship between a man and a woman, then they are not competent to for public office. Marriage laws regulate a social institution upon which society has been built and the future of society rests. By redefining marriage, the Vermont legislature removed the cornerstone of society and the foundation of government. The consequences will rest on their shoulders and upon those passive objectors who know what to do but lack the courage to stand against this form of tyranny."

Concerned Women for America:

"Vermont was the first state to create civil unions, an arrangement allowing same-sex couples all the government-bestowed benefits of marriage. But as pro-family leaders warned, and despite claims by homosexual activists, this debate is not about benefits. That was merely the wedge to demand more, to require that everyone in society accept what cannot -- by nature -- be, that marriage can be something other than one man and one woman.

"Marriage is the unique relationship between a man and a woman who together provide children with the benefits of the two sexes, male and female. A marriage cannot be complete without both sexes. While government officials may change definitions, they cannot change nature. The first human relationship was between one man and one woman, and it became the foundation of all society. Vermont legislators' futile attempt to replace God by vainly redefining marriage eerily follows how that first man and woman acted on the first temptation -- and the root of all temptations -- to act as if they were gods. That one decision by Adam and Eve to believe that they could 'be like God' separated them from God, destroyed the peace that they had experienced, and ushered in what some would call 'unintended consequences' of pain and destruction.

"The decision by Vermont legislators to attempt to redefine marriage creates an urgency for other states and officials to protect marriage."

Catholic League (from an email):

Which state has less religious men and women than any other? Vermont.
Which is the only state to have a socialist senator? Vermont.
Which state has the second lowest birth rate in the nation? Vermont
Which state has the second highest proportion of whites? Vermont.
Which state legislature was the first to legalize gay marriage? Vermont.

In other words, Vermont is a lily-white state populated by left-wingers who are anti-traditional marriage and anti-family. Exactly what we would expect of a population where more people believe in nothing than anywhere else in the nation.

Alliance Defense Fund:

"With its enactment, the Vermont legislature made a profound social policy statement that mothers and fathers are not necessary for the family, and that the sex of a parent doesn't matter" Austin R. Nimocks, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, told Baptist Press. The religious liberty organization opposed the bill. "It's unfortunate any time you see a court or a legislature say that children are not entitled to both a mother and a father. And it should never be the intent of any policy or law to intentionally deprive children of what they need, and that's both a mom and a dad."

...

"Just because the legislature makes an enactment doesn't make it true," Nimmocks, the attorney, said of the legislature's passage of the "gay marriage" bill. "If the Vermont legislature passed a resolution that the earth was flat, does that make it true? Of course not. And the simple fact is that marriage predated the Vermont legislature -- just like my mother predated me. I don't get to redefine who my mother is. It's just a simple fact of common sense. The institution of marriage has predated the legislature and government and the United States, and it's not the prerogative of anybody to redefine it. It is the prerogative of every state and U.S. citizen to uphold the institution as it has always been defined, as one man and one woman."

Nimmocks also said he does not think "gay marriage" legalization nationwide is imminent.

"I don't believe for a second that same-sex marriage is going to become the policy of the United States or a majority of states," he said. "And the fact that there are 30 constitutional amendments amongst our 50 states upholding marriage as the union of one man and one woman -- plus several other constitutional amendment efforts in other states -- only bolsters that fact."

Focus on the Family:

"The vote change reflects the triumph of a short-term view of political persuasion and correctness over a long-term view of the needs of future generations of Vermont's children," said Jenny Tyree, marriage analyst at Focus on the Family Action.

"Marriage is larger than any judge or legislator. It's the only social institution with the purpose of giving a mother and a father to every child, and lawmakers ignore that purpose to the detriment of society."

Montana bill would ignore national ID requirements, Maine urges Congress to overturn it. Also: Hawaii, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Vermont and Washington.