In Idaho, Christian Pastors Ordered to Perform Gay Marriages

[mrclose]

In Idaho, Christian Pastors Ordered to Perform Gay Marriages. You Will Be Made to Care.

It is one of the tenets of the current movement toward gay marriage. They get to get married, Christians are forced to provide goods and services if they demand it, but — and this is the key caveat of it all — but Christian ministers will not be forced to wed gays because of their religious concerns.

That was last week. This is this week where the government of Coeur D’Alene, Idaho is forcing two Christians pastors to marry gays.

Libertarian atheists who hate Christians and don’t like to admit it will find their exception at this point. Donald and Evelyn Knapp run the Hitching Post, wherein they perform marriages. “Yes,” say the libertarians, “it’s a business so they must provide accommodation.”

For the rest of us, the Knapps are Christians. They run their Hitching Post as a ministry and their weddings are religious affairs with quotes from scripture, etc.

That does not matter.

According to the state, the Knapp’s must provide gay marriages if they are to marry anyone at all.

You will be made to care. The Knapp’s will be made to care. And all the people who said this would never happen will move the goal posts.

http://www.redstate.com/2014/10/18/in-idaho-christian-pastors-ordered-to-perform-gay-marriages-you-will-be-made-to-care/

[truth_seeker]

I could start a church, which preached against blacks. Then I could open a wedding chapel business, and refuse to serve blacks.

Or as merely a member of the church that preached against blacks, I could refuse to make a black a wedding cake.

Not far back the Southern Baptist Church, supported slavery. More recently the Mormon Church prevented blacks from receiving their highest positions. Somewhere in the Bible I can probably find passages to support positions against blacks.

Maybe some African Bushmen come to Texas, and start a church based on their animist beliefs.
Maybe they torture and burn a few animals, or even humans for sacrifice.

Or what if somebody started a church on the belief that certain types of handicapped people were cursed by God.

Or very hard line muslims may feel justified in killing their daughters and wives, if they are raped.

So assuming that, should the civil governments have the power to tell businesses, churches and church members, what to do?

Or should there be non-religious standards of behavior based on civil law, discourse in our society, which trump all religious beliefs.

 

[rangerrebew]

- The Daily Caller - http://dailycaller.com -



Idaho City To Christian Pastors: Perform Same-Sex Weddings Or Face Jail

Posted By Derek Hunter On 6:45 PM 10/19/2014 In | No Comments
 

The city of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, is taking a step many opponents of same-sex marriage feared would come – forcing those with religious objections to perform same-sex marriages or risk facing prosecution for violating non-discrimination laws.

Donald and Evelyn Knapp, ordained ministers who oppose gay marriage, own the Hitching Post wedding chapel in Coeur d’Alene. Early in 2014, a federal judge in Idaho ruled that the same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional, but the ruling was put on hold while the case was appealed. When the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, the ruling stood and went into effect.

The city of Coeur d’Alene has an ordinance that prohibits discrimination, including on the basis of sexual orientation, in public accommodations. It does have a religious exemption, but the Hitching Post is a for-profit company, not technically a religious organization, in spite of the Knapp’s deeply held personal beliefs.

Back in May, when everything was on hold pending the Supreme Court, Donald told KXLY, “I think the Bible is pretty clear that homosexuality is not his way, and therefore I cannot unite people in a way that I believe would conflict with what the Bible teaches.” The Knapps have said they will close their doors before violating their religious beliefs.

But before that happens, there is another legal battle ahead.

“On Friday, a same-sex couple asked to be married by the Knapps, and the Knapps politely declined. The Knapps now face a 180-day jail term and $1,000 fine for each day they decline to celebrate the same-sex wedding.” Note that jail time and the fine is per day, not per offense, The Daily Signal reports.

 
Also on Friday, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and a federal lawsuit on behalf of the Knapps to stop the city from enforcing the fine and/or jail time.

Jeremy Tedesco, senior legal council at ADF, said, “The government should not force ordained. Many have denied that pastors would ever be forced to perform ceremonies that are completely at odds with their faith, but that’s what is happening here – and it’s happened this quickly.”

In May, Coeur d’Alene City Attorney Warren Wilson told KXLY, “If you turn away a gay couple, refuse to provide services for them, then in theory you violated our code and you’re looking at a potential misdemeanor citation.”

With the city moving to enforce that code, ADF moved to defend the Knapps. Eugene Volokh, UCLA law professor and legal blogger at the Washington Post, thinks they have a good case. That Coeur d’Alene’s move against the Knapps violates the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Volokh, who teaches free speech and religious freedom law, thinks, “…compelling them (the Knapps) to speak words in ceremonies that they think are immoral is an unconstitutional speech compulsion. Given that the Free Speech Clause bars the government from requiring public school students to say the pledge of allegiance, or even from requiring drivers to display a slogan on their license plates (Wooley v. Maynard (1977), the government can’t require ministers — or other private citizens — to speak the words in a ceremony, on pain of either having to close their business or face fines and jail time.”

Ultimately the same Supreme Court that set this situation in motion with their recent rejection of the broader issue will likely have to decide how far to take it. While the macro issue of same-sex marriage is advancing around the country, there remain a lot of micro issues yet to be settled.


Article printed from The Daily Caller: http://dailycaller.com

URL to article: http://dailycaller.com/2014/10/19/idaho-city-to-christian-pastors-preform-same-sex-weddings-or-face-jail/

[mountaineer]

The first so-called wedding of two people of the same sex recently occurred in my state, but at the courthouse. It won't be long before the activists locate the conservative churches and try to force pastors to conduct such ceremonies.

[rangerrebew]

Will gays try to force muslims to perform the same ceremony?  My guess there isn't a snowball's chance in hell of that happening.  Even if they did, the government would likely intervene on the side of muslims.

[Scottftlc]

Will gays try to force muslims to perform the same ceremony?  My guess there isn't a snowball's chance in hell of that happening.  Even if they did, the government would likely intervene on the side of muslims.

I was going to ask this same question...is the government going to force Muslim mosques to do this?  They damned well better.  Let's see how that goes.