Should preaching God's Word and sharing teachings from the Holy Bible against homosexuality be considered a violation of state law?
An Iowa pastor has expressed concerns about how a state law prohibiting discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity is threatening his right to share God's Word with others.
Cary Gordon, pastor of Cornerstone World Outreach, a nondenominational church with around 900 members in Sioux City, said the government should stop "meddling in religious affairs."
"The state of Iowa is not the self-appointed pope of all churches," Gordon said, as quoted by Charisma News.
Gordon is particularly opposing the expansion of the Iowa Civil Rights Act, which added sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected classes.
The pastor said that this addition to the state law can be interpreted as prohibiting the sharing of Biblical teachings which consider same-sex relationships sinful.
"As it reads, according to their interpretation of the Iowa code, if you discuss anything out of the Scripture that relates to sexuality or marriage ... you're not in compliance with the law and you can be sort of treated like a criminal," said Gordon, who has been preaching for over two decades.
He further said that the protection provided by the state to homosexuals was a "flagrant disrespect for the First Amendment of the Constitution, where the state retains the power to correct or control what I say and teach out of the Bible."
The pastor maintained that he will continue to teach against homosexuality despite the greater protection provided by the state to gay individuals.
"It's fundamentally wrong and I can't comply with that," Gordon added. "I've taken an oath to the Lord Jesus Christ, and I obey the Bible above all men. ... I have to obey God, and that puts me in a precarious position."
