Bill Armistead photo.JPG

Alabama Republican Party Chairman Bill Armistead

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Alabama Republican Party Chairman Bill Armistead posted a column on the party's website today saying that Alabama risks incurring God's wrath if it embraces same-sex marriage.

"God is not one to be mocked, and I fear for our state and our country when we go against God's word," Armistead said.

Armistead returned from a 10-day trip to the Holy Land on Monday night.

He quoted Genesis 2:24 in his column: "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."

Armistead, a former state senator, was one of the sponsors of the 1998 bill that became the Alabama Marriage Protection Act.

Eight years later, state voters enshrined that into the state constitution with the Sanctity of Marriage Amendment, which was supported by 81 percent of those voting.

U.S. District Judge Callie Granade ruled last month that the law and the amendment were unconstitutional.

Same-sex marriages began across parts of the state on Monday, although some counties have stopped issuing licenses because of an order from Chief Justice Roy Moore, who has said the judge's ruling is not binding on the state or the probate judges.

"I definitely support Judge Moore and the way he's approaching this," Armistead said.