4/12/2008
thought police fine Christian couple $6,000 for their beliefs
From this article at AFA online written by Jeff Johnson comes some disturbing news from New Mexico:
A Christian law firm will appeal a ruling by the New Mexico Human Rights Commission fining a photographer who refused to take photos of a homosexual commitment ceremony.
Elaine Huguenin and her husband Jon, who co-own Elane Photography in Albuquerque, New Mexico, are both Christians. So when a lesbian couple asked them to photograph their “commitment ceremony” in Taos, the Huguenins politely refused. In response, Vanessa Willock filed a complaint with the New Mexico Human Rights Commission claiming the Huguenins discriminated against her because of her “sexual orientation.” On Wednesday, the Commission found the Christian couple guilty of discrimination under state anti-discrimination laws and ordered them to pay more than $6,000 in costs.
So here we have an example of a “Human Rights Commission” in the US. This is just an indication of things to come, unfortunately, while America sleeps…we have Ezra Levant to look toward in terms of what “Human Rights Commissions” are capable of doing toward people who exercise their freedom of speech. This is about going after people for “offending” the sensibilities of ‘protected groups’. And Christians are not among them.
“This decision is a stunning disregard for religious liberty and First Amendment freedoms of people of faith, of Christians, and those who believe in traditional marriage defined as one man and one woman,” says Jordan Lorence with the Alliance Defense Fund. “This shows the very disconcerting, authoritarian face of the homosexual activists, who are using these non-discrimination laws as weapons against Christians in the business world and Christians in their churches.”
The reason that this is happening is because gays are now included in the Federal “Non Discrimination Act” as a ‘protected group’.
Lorence believes the Huguenins will win an appeal of the decision. But he warns this is how similar laws in 19 other states, and the proposed federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act, can be misused to silence biblical beliefs.
“There is a great threat to our religious liberties and our ability to speak out in favor of traditional marriage when these non-discrimination laws are interpreted in such a harsh way to censor Christians and others,” he asserts.
The gay agenda is the greatest threat today toward Christians’ civil rights.
Lorence said Americans do not surrender their freedoms of speech or religion just because they choose to open a business. He added that the Commission’s decision is tantamount to the State of New Mexico forcing a vegetarian videographer to create a commercial for a butcher shop.
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April 12th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
‘King of Battle’ still reigns.
The Redleg Soldiers of Howitzer Battery are busy at work in Iraq. They use their cannons for 2 reasons: Indirect fire up to 30k away or illuminating the enemy. They have a very proud tradition, and they carry it out well…
Comment: Cao, this would never have happened if they were muzlims, and that is even more scary. If we don’t start standing up and demanding EQUAL JUSTICE under the law, we shall lose our Christian Nation that was endowed upon us by GOD Himself…and we will deserve it. I say, ‘NO MORE’.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I didn’t read about it or hear it anywhere else except your blog. Great work.
April 15th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
The human “rights”commission must have gotten their rules and regs from the canadian human “rights” commission that also fines people who disagree with the butt buddy lifestyle! Oh, and let’s not forget the izlame lifestyle too!
This is just another attack on Christian values because some people/groups have more rights than others!
Let me also make the point that our government has turned our God given Rights into privileges and permissions and because they have done that then they think they can give and take away at whim!
What man gives, man can take away!
April 17th, 2008 at 3:35 am
I don’t know about you, but I’d be pissed if I paid a photographer for work, and they refused to do it.
But what if instead of a ******* couple, they were instead interracial? Or just non-white, period? Would you take offense, or would you say that the photographer has the right to be as bigoted as they want?
April 17th, 2008 at 4:10 am
What if they just went to a different photographer? People should be allowed their religious beliefs instead of being trolled by the thought police. With leftists, as long as it has nothing to do with Christ, it’s perfectly acceptable…but it infringes on the rights of the majority of people who believe.
That’s anti-Christian bigotry.
April 17th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the photographer did not previously note their personal restrictions, plus anti-discrimination laws.
I can understand someone not wanting to break their religious taboos, but I believe if they’re going to do that, they need to make note of it. Imagine if you were involved in an accident and the paramedics came, but refused to treat you on the basis that you are not of their religion(even if just a difference of Christian sect).
That may be an extreme, but if the Emergency Dispatcher made sure to only send a crew that would treat someone regardless, then that would preserve the faithfuls’ lack of desire to cross taboos.
The thing is(and this is what the site Blogs4Brownback doesn’t understand), no matter how faithful a Christian you are, you cannot follow every drop of ink in the Bible. This doesn’t mean you cannot be entirely devout. It means that times have changed– no longer are you considered to be the property of your husband(or else you would know that what you do here breaks religious law), it is considered amoral to stone someone simply for differing view or disrespect to one’s father, and we certainly don’t condone slavery of ANYONE in this era.
The way to be a true Christian is to understand how to adapt God’s Word to the era. I won’t go into the original intent of Jesus, nor the eradication of the Gnosis(which Jesus actually started, after he rebelled against the Temples). But I can tell that you agree with what I’ve said to an extent– or else I suggest re-reading the entirety of both Testaments.
April 18th, 2008 at 4:49 am
Why did they have to note their personal restrictions? So the government paid thought police can come crashing in with a SWAT team to arrest them?
Yeah, it’s an unfortunate thing that anti-discrimination laws include **** as a ‘protected group’, we’re going to see more of this that will play out against Christians who follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Bible.
You can follow more of the Bible if the government isn’t chastising you for being a Christian.
This is nothing more than bigotry against the majority of Americans who have faith.
And it’s none of the government’s business.
“The Constitution prohibits the state from forcing unwilling people to promote a message they disagree with and thereby violate there conscience,” said Jordan Lorence, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, which is working on an appeal.
“The constitutional right of Americans to refrain from participating in a ceremony or other event because their sincerely held religious beliefs conflict with its message is at stake,” the organization said. “Christians could be forced to advocate for viewpoints with which they disagree or to participate in events that violate their conscience.”
“There is a great threat to our religious liberties and our ability to speak out in favor of traditional marriage when these non-discrimination laws are interpreted in such a harsh way to censor Christians and others,” he said.
“The government cannot make people choose between their faith and their livelihood,” said Lorence. “Could the government force a vegetarian videographer to create a commercial for the new butcher shop in town? American business owners do not surrender their constitutional rights at the marketplace gate.”
This is “inconsistent with the right to the free exercise of religion as codified by Congress in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The Act prohibits the federal government from substantially burdening the free exercise of religion except for compelling reasons, and then only in the least restrictive manner possible.
April 18th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Why did they have to note their personal restrictions? So the government paid thought police can come crashing in with a SWAT team to arrest them?
No, but there’s this sign that says “We reserve the right to refuse service to ANYONE”. At the very least, have one of those.
You must’ve missed the part where I talked about the ambulance. Would you be fine if you were left for dead because the ambulance crew doesn’t believe in helping women, whites, or christians– discrimination as mandated by their faiths?
You can follow more of the Bible if the government isn’t chastising you for being a Christian.
This is nothing more than bigotry against the majority of Americans who have faith.
And it’s none of the government’s business.
That’s the price you pay for living in the US, a nation founded upon the principle of liberty. There’s an entire clause that notes “separation of church and state”. You’re forced to believe anything you wish, but you cannot beat, murder, or persecute someone else just because they see or were raised differently.
Unfortunately, much of the world has adopted the idea that we should not persecute and murder in the name of faith.
That’s why I suggest people noting any taboos or bigotry that would prevent them from offering service to someone.
“Christians could be forced to advocate for viewpoints with which they disagree or to participate in events that violate their conscience.”
If we are to agree on this, then it must be allowed to be applicable to all faiths. It is incredibly narrowminded and bigoted to suggest that a country structured to be open should restrict itself to the doctrine of a single faith. The era of “you’re not in my religion, so i’m gonna kill you” has ended.
Today alone, the Pope met with a Rabbi, and visits a temple. But if you prefer to usher in an era in which only the Christians are given rights(of course, you DO have to specify which sects– there is no such thing as “I am strictly Christian”, because it’s been split for centuries. Jesus himself was a Gnostic believer.), then the only way you’ll be able to get that message across in this era is to begin with blood. Go out, and shoot anyone who does not share your beliefs.
No one in government wields the power to overwrite the entire Constitution, so your only hope is to kill those who stand in the way.
April 24th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
It guarantees the free exercise of religion. Why did you leave out ‘or prohibiting the free exercise thereof’? Because you don’t want to see it doesn’t it mean it’s not there.
Isn’t that too bad for the atheists who want to wipe it from view as long as it has the Christ-word in it?
“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”-George Washington
Morality can not prevail without religion. A decent society where we trust our neighbors, and where we take care of each other and each other’s children-cannot exist if we don’t trust one another, but that is what is happening in a nation that is teaching evolution with no alternative. They teach that the very foundation of the Bible is wrong. That in itself is false. Evolution leads to a godless belief system that causes destruction and death. And it is no wonder that the leftist train of thought is considered a ‘culture of death’…it has bred horrors such as people had to endure under Trotsky, Lenin, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, etc.
And so it would seem that you’re wrong about a religious person not being able to act religious in public - or exercise his right to turn down business. People should be guaranteed being able to exercise those principles and their belief systems in public…and even teach them to their children.
What your suggesting is against God’s law…and it is something the secular humanists are trying to ram down our throats - which we should resist at all costs.