Christian photographers Elane Photography in New Mexico were approached by a same-sex
couple looking to hire a wedding photographer. Elane
Photography politely declined citing their Christian faith and were sued by
the couple under the state’s anti-discriminatory laws, and won. In New Mexico you apparently have no right to
your free expression and practice of faith any longer.
Now
the State
of Washington is suing a small flower shop after the owner declined to provide
flowers for a homosexual wedding – based on her religious beliefs. Barronelle Stutzman, the owner of Arlene’s Flowers in Richland, WA, is
facing thousands of dollars in fines and penalties for allegedly violating the
state’s Consumer Protection Act. “If a business provides a product or service
to opposite-sex couples for their weddings, then it must provide same-sex
couples the same product or service,” Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a
statement.
On March 1, a longtime customer asked
Stutzman to provide flowers for his upcoming same-sex wedding. According to court documents, she told him
that she would not be able to do so “because of her relationship with Jesus
Christ.” The Attorney General’s office
sent a letter to the florist on March 28 giving her a chance to reconsider her
position and sign an agreement indicating her intention to comply with the law.
But Stutzman refused. “Under the Consumer Protection Act, it is unlawful to discriminate against
customers on the basis of sexual orientation,” the attorney general said. In their letter to Stutzman, they told her
the only way to avoid a lawsuit was to agree to provide services for homosexual
weddings. “This means that as a seller
of goods or services, you will not refuse to sell floral arrangements for same-sex
weddings if you sell floral arrangements for opposite-sex weddings,” the Attorney
General’s office wrote. The Attorney
General is seeking a permanent injunction forcing the flower shop to comply
with the law – as well as $2,000 in fines for every violation.
Attorney JD Bristol called the notion
that his client was guilty of discrimination “nonsense.” “Arlene’s
Flowers has catered to all patrons, including homosexuals, for many years,”
Bristol wrote in his reply to the Attorney General. “Arlene’s
Flowers has had openly gay employees.” He told The
Seattle Times that he believes the state is trying to make an example of the
flower shop. “This is about gay
marriage, it’s not about a person being gay,” he told the newspaper. “She has a conscientious objection to
homosexual marriage, not homosexuality. It
violates her conscience.”
Bristol said he believes this is a
freedom of religion issue. “What the
government is saying here is that you don’t have the right to free religious
exercise,” he told the newspaper. Religious
liberty groups in the State of Washington and across the country are voicing
their support for the flower shop. “You
may not be a florist, and you may have made a different decision, but liberty
is at stake for all of us,” said Joseph Backholm, Executive Director of the Family Policy Institute of Washington. “Draw your line in the sand right here.”
Backholm sent an email blast urging
supporters to stand with Arlene’s Flowers.
“Don’t ignore the bully just because he
hasn’t punched you in the mouth yet,” he said. “A small business owner is looking at years of
litigation and huge legal expenses because she won’t bow to the political
elites.”
Peter Sprigg, with the Family Research Council, told Todd
Starnes of Fox News they are seeing
more and more of these types of cases. “People
need to be aware this is the underlying motive for the push for same-sex
marriage,” he said. “It’s not just about
legal rights and benefits. It’s about forcing
everyone in society to recognize their relationships as being one hundred
percent equal to opposite-sex marriages.”
He called the lawsuit a dangerous step towards encroaching on religious
liberty. “It also reflects a narrow view
of religious liberty where people may have freedom to exercise religious liberty
in their church, but they don’t have that right when they go outside those four
walls,” he said.
Well before our nation’s birth, a biblical
basis for freedom of religion came from the words of Jesus who said, “Render to Caesar the things that are
Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” (Matthew 22:21) In this statement, Jesus established the
principle of a distinct realm of “things that belong to God” that should not be
regulated or constrained by the government (or “Caesar”). Although Jesus did not specify what things
belong to this realm that is outside of Caesar’s control, certainly “the things
that belong to God” must include decisions and actions regarding faith and
practice. This means that people's religious convictions and activities should clearly be an area in
which government gives citizens uninhibited freedom.
Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
No comments:
Post a Comment