I'm reading the decision and WOW. The Defense called in some Religious Studies type folks to testify, and the Judge was having none of it:

"...the Court does not believe that the expected testimony of these individuals is scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge..."

"...these individuals are not qualified to testify as experts regarding the issues in this matter...they do not appear to possess expertise in relevant fields..."

"Ms. Somerville specifically eschews empirical research and methods of logical reasoning in favor of “moral intuition.” She has no training in empirical research and admits having no knowledge of existing social science research relevant to this case. She concedes that her views do no reflect the mainstream views of other ethicists..."

"The views espoused by these individuals appear to be largely personal and not based on observation supported by scientific methodology or based on empirical research in any sense."

That full section is posted on my blog.

The long and short of that seems to be "The religious opinions of a few people (edited unnecessary term of disparagement) does not qualify them as experts qualified to testify about marriage, sociology, .. or basically anything related to this case or the law."

Hurrah for Judge Hanson!

Kisses,

JanieBelle

Dream a little dream of me.