Chief Justice John Roberts: Churches could lose tax exempt status if they oppose gay marriage

I have longed warned that we need to protect traditional marriage and that churches could be forced to perform gay marriages. 

It seems we have now come to that point in our nation's history with the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling on Friday that all 50 states must now allow same sex unions.

In his dissenting opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts warned that churches could lose tax exempt status if they oppose gay marriage.

“Hard questions arise when people of faith exercise religion in ways that may be seen to conflict with the new right to same-sex marriage — when, for example, a religious college provides married student housing only to opposite-sex married couples, or a religious adoption agency declines to place children with same-sex married couples.

“Indeed, the Solicitor General candidly acknowledged that the tax exemptions of some religious institutions would be in question if they opposed same-sex marriage. See Tr. of Oral Arg. on Question 1, at 36–38. 

"There is little doubt that these and similar questions will soon be before this Court. Unfortunately, people of faith can take no comfort in the treatment they receive from the majority today,” Roberts wrote, citing a comment made Solicitor General Donald Verrilli during oral arguments in April.

“It’s certainly going to be an issue. I don’t deny that,” Verrilli said at the time.