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Oregon Judge Targeted for Christian Beliefs? 'When We Have God's Perspective, a Trial Is an Opportunity'

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An Oregon judge is charged with aiding and abetting a felon in possession of a firearm, but Vance Day believes he's being targeted because of his unwillingness to perform gay marriages.

"I think this whole ordeal started when I made my original decision to quietly recuse myself from same-sex marriage," Day told CBN News. 

"In Oregon, it's not a requirement that a circuit court judge marries anybody, but when the law changed I had a decision to make and that decision was to gently, quietly recuse myself and that eventually began a bit of a firestorm," he said.

It's a firestorm that's lasted more than three years. Day has racked up legal bills just shy of $1 million.

Monday a judge granted his motion for a change of venue since finding an impartial jury in his county was unlikely.

This fall the state of Oregon will try to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Day helped a disabled Navy SEAL, who was working his way through his veterans court, possess a firearm.

It's a charge Day says is punishment for his Biblical views on marriage.
 
"In the dead of winter his source of heat, which was a pellet stove, failed," he recalled. "So our team talked about it and I'm a handy guy, so I said, 'My son is going to be heading out there this weekend,' 'cause my son had a relationship with him and was helping him get to various appointments because he lived far out and didn't have a drivers' license cause he was sentenced for a DUI."

"So we went out there on a Sunday," he continued, "brought him some food and I went to work on the pellet stove and my son, unbeknownst to me, went out to his truck and got a handgun that he wanted to show the Navy SEAL." 

"So the Navy SEAL picked it up – and he's a felon so he shouldn't have been handling that gun – and I was in the room and that's how I got charged with aiding and abetting a felon in possession of a firearm," Day explained.

Despite the hardships he's faced over the past three and a half years, Day says he wouldn't trade it.

"Sometimes when you're in a – I think you see a different side of God that you can only see in that trial and it expands your understanding of His relentless, and I mean relentless, goodness and His kindness," Day told CBN News.

He encourages all Americans to stand up when government challenges their liberty of conscience.

"When we have His perspective, a trial is an opportunity to walk with Him and watch Him show up in glory and majesty and I don't want to miss that," he said with gratitude.

Judge Day expects his jury trial to last at least two weeks.

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About The Author

Jennifer
Wishon

As Senior Washington Correspondent for CBN News, Jennifer covers the intersection of faith and politics - often producing longer format stories that dive deep into the most pressing issues facing Americans today. A 20-year veteran journalist, Jennifer has spent most of her career covering politics, most recently at the White House as CBN's chief White House Correspondent covering the Obama and Trump administrations. She's also covered Capitol Hill along with a slew of major national stories from the 2008 financial crisis to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and every election in between. Jennifer