In a recent article I read, 2 women have sued the Methodist Church for not allowing them to marry in their chapel. The Methodist organization said they could marry on the boardwalk or in a the park across the street but not in the place where they hold religious ceremonies.
The pastor Reverend Scott Pastor claimed, "The principle was a strongly held religious belief that a marriage is between a man and a woman," Hoffman says. "We're not casting any aspersions or making any judgments. It's just, that's where we stand, and we've always stood that way, and that's why we said no."
Seems like a logical answer to me. You are a pastor of a church that believes in the Bible and believes in the sanctity of marriage and want to stand up for your beliefs and not have them trod and stomped upon by 2 people who obviously have an alternative agenda...so you say, "No. Not in our building where we worship our God and where we support families and the very definition of a marriage as the God we worship intended it to be."
So what do these two people do....
The couple filed a complaint with New Jersey's Division of Civil Rights, alleging the Methodists unlawfully discriminated against them based on sexual orientation. Attorney Lawrence Lustberg represents them. (a lawyer with that last name has got to be fake doesn't it?)
Well, I know what most of you are thinking....No way they win, right? Separation of church and state, right? A church has a right to protect its beliefs, right? WRONG, WRONG, and WRONG.
The state revoked the organization's tax exemption. Hoffman figures they will lose $20,000.
So my next question is this....
If it can happen to the Methodists, what impedes it from happening to the LDS church when a "alternative lifestyle" couple asks a Bishop to marry them in the chapel because afterall, it is the law! Before you know it, we'll have "Lust"berg and every other lawyer that "lusts" after $20,000 and other things beating down our doors.
Believe me, if this Proposition does not pass in California, every other state will fall in line.
Here are a few more examples:
Yeshiva University was ordered to allow same-sex couples in its married dormitory. A Christian school has been sued for expelling two allegedly lesbian students. Catholic Charities abandoned its adoption service in Massachusetts after it was told to place children with same-sex couples. The same happened with a private company operating in California.
A psychologist in Mississippi who refused to counsel a lesbian couple lost her case, and legal experts believe that a doctor who refused to provide IVF services to a lesbian woman is about to lose his pending case before the California Supreme Court.
But that is not all....(I know this post is long enough but I'm started to get a little upset).
Read the following story and then tell me that it doesn't matter if Prop 8 doesn't pass:
On January 28, 2008, the New Mexico Human Rights Commission heard the case of Vanessa Willock v. Elane Photography.
Willock, in the midst of planning her wedding to her girlfriend, sent the photography company an e-mail request to shoot the commitment ceremony. Elaine Huguenin, who owns the company with her husband, replied: "We do not photograph same-sex weddings. But thanks for checking out our site! Have a great day!"
Willock filed a complaint, and at the hearing she explained how she felt.
"A variety of emotions," she said, holding back tears. "There was a shock and anger and fear. ... We were planning a very happy day for us, and we're being met with hatred. That's how it felt."
Willock declined to be interviewed, as did the owners of Elane Photography. At the hearing, Jonathan Huguenin said that when he and his wife formed the company two years ago, they made it company policy not to shoot same-sex ceremonies, because the ceremonies conflicted with their Christian beliefs.
"We wanted to make sure that everything we photographed — everything we used our artistic ability for, everything we told a story for or conveyed a message of — would be in line with our values and our beliefs," he said.
The defendants' attorney, Jordan Lorence at ADF, says that of course a Christian widget-maker cannot fire an employee because he's gay. But it's different when the company or a religious charity is being forced to endorse something they don't believe, he says.
"It's a very different situation when we're talking about promoting a message," Lorence says. "When it's 'We want to punish you for not helping us promote our message that same-sex marriage is OK,' that for me is a very different deal. It's compelled speech. You're using the arm of the government for punishing people for disagreeing with you."
In April, the state human rights commission found that Elane Photography was guilty of discrimination and must pay the Willock's more than $6,600 attorneys' fee bill.
Is there any doubt what befalls us if Prop 8 does not pass. This is only beginning of an avalanche one can see a mile away. The ball has started down the slippery slope but we still have time to stop it. I say stand up, get in line, and push back with all your might because the way I see it, "They've only just begun."
8 comments:
I am in total agreement with Prposition 8, but have not walked the neighborhoods yet as I did for Proposition 22. My wife and I have not been home together for the last several weeks and we are waiting to make the walk together. Here is why - my brother-in-law went door to door last week without his wife and was assigned a male member of the ward to walk with. As some of you know, the approach we are taking is to take a survey without really arguing for or against the proposition and to then drop off some literature. After a few doors it became apparent to my brother-in-law that the majority of the homeowners thought that he and his buddy were gay and that they were there in favor of gay marriage. Needless to say, they quit for the day and waited for the time they could go with their wives. I am doing the same.
Kyle, my brother-in-law made the same mistake in Palm Springs. He went out with another male member of his ward and did not get the right message across.
For those who are going to go door to door, I have found that going with your spouse or child is the right approach or even by yourself works. Do not go with someone of the same sex and age! Your first impression is not a good one.
The first time I went by myself and the next time I took my 7 year old son. Most houses I came across were positive and glad I had stopped by with information.
You get a few naysayers but that's expected especially in Laguna Beach. :)
Dro,
Good to see you're getting fired up with Prop 8. Amy told me all the same stories you just posted before I went out and knocked doors last saturday. I wasn't that fired up until I knocked doors and spoke with so many ignorant people who have absolutely no clue about what the "change" could mean. What's sad is the number of good families I ran into where the parents were basically giving up...just tired of fighting the fight...like it's a losing battle. DON'T give up you moron! I feel like I was able to get a few apathetic people on board so I felt like I was making a difference. I was like you early on, not much interest...but now my attitude has changed. I live in Placer Co, which is probably the most conservative county in Cali, so most folks were on board, accept all the registered Democrats...idiots! But I'm fired up holmes...take me into the lion's den baby....the city by the bay....San Francisco! I'll go knock doors and knock some skulls with all the sodomites!!! Keep up the good work brotha and keep fighting the fight!
Sounds like a bad Seinfeld episode.
How is it possible that we have gone so far so fast. America is so young and yet we travel at a very strong pace. I hope it is not to late to stand strong and tall and see that this passes.
Glad to see you have a cause Dro. I am right on board with you. I have been walking door to door and have always gone alone. I have been a little surprised at some of the conversations I have had with people. Many people take the approach that they don't want to tell other people what to do and that they don't want to be biased towards gays and lesbians. When I hear this, I usually take the time to give them my views on the subject and that it is more about the sanctity of marriage than showing a bias and that there is already state legislation that gives gay and lesbian couples all the same rights and privileges as married couples.
The scary thing is that I have been getting responses that people in my area are about 50-50 on the subject, but this is Laguna Niguel! Its as conservative as it gets and people just don't seem to care or understand the implications. So instead of just taking a poll, I have starting talking to people about this after I get their response and see if I can help solidify or change their minds.
The tax exemption issue is scary and could lead to the church having to report all of its tithing income and we of course will not be able to get tax benefits for paying it.
Gays and lesbians are a protected minority and this has been clearly established by the media and with the recent law suits. Mormons are not a protected minority however. You can go on the news and say that you will not vote for Mitt because he is Mormon, but if you said you weren't voting for someone because they are gay (Hillary), then its a hate crime.
Hell
Truedat, homo's are no longer the silent minority. They have, by the power of the devil, been able to make their way into our schools, churches, government, and courtrooms and have somehow become a loud voice in society.
We need to be louder, bolder and more stubborn about the sanctity of marriage and family than ever. I'm talking all out war too. Not just knocking doors or passing out flyers (which are very good things). I'm talkin rallies in the street, in front of our city halls, capital buildings, etc. The media will show the queers out in the street rallying and waving their flags. We should be their first waving our flags (and brass knuckles) and voicing our beliefs in front of the media as well.
Thanks for the post, keep up the good work!
Post a Comment