The Tennes family has been farming in
Michigan for generations. They grow all
sorts of crops at the Country Mill Farm – organic apples, blueberries,
pumpkins, sweet corn. And for the past 7-years,
Steve Tennes and his family have sold their produce at the farmer’s market owned
by the city of East Lansing. But this
year – city officials told the devout Catholic family that their blueberries
and sweet corn were not welcome at the farmer’s market – and neither were they.
Last year, someone posted a message on
Country Mill’s Facebook page inquiring about whether they hosted same-sex
weddings at the farm. Tennes told the
individual they did not permit same-sex marriages on the farm because of the
family’s Catholic belief that marriage is a sacramental union between one man
and one woman.
City officials later discovered the
Facebook posting and began immediate action to remove Country Mill from the
Farmer’s Market – alleging the family had violated the city’s discrimination
ordinance. “It was brought to our
attention that the Country Mill’s general business practices do not comply with
East Lansing’s Civil Rights ordinances and public policy against discrimination
as set forth in Chapter 22 of the City Code and outlined in the 2017 Market Vendor
Guidelines, as such, The Country Mill’s presence as a vendor is prohibited by
the City’s Farmer’s Market Vendor Guidelines,” read a letter the city sent to
the family.
It also did not seem to matter to city
leaders that the farm is located 22-miles outside the city limits – and had
absolutely nothing to do with the business of selling blueberries at the
farmer’s market.
“We were surprised and we were
shocked,” Steve told Todd Starnes writing for Townhall.com. “My wife and I
both volunteered to serve in the military – to protect freedom now we come home
and the freedom that we worked to protect – we have to defend in our own
backyard.” Steve went on to say,
“Whether you are a Jew, Muslim or Christian – people of faith should not be
eradicated from the marketplace simply because they don’t share the same thoughts
and ideas that the government is choosing to promote.”
The Tennes have decided to fight for
their constitutional rights. Alliance
Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a federal lawsuit last week alleging East Lansing
violated the constitutional rights of the Tennes family. “All Steve wants to do is sell his food to
anyone who wants to buy it, but the city isn’t letting him,” said ADF Legal
Counsel Kate Anderson. “People of faith,
like the Tennes family, should be free to live and work according to their
deeply held beliefs without fear of losing their livelihood. If the government can shut down a family
farmer just because of the religious views he expresses on Facebook — by
denying him a license to do business and serve fresh produce to all people — then
no American is free.”
Todd Starnes is correct when he says,
“The attacks on religious liberty did not end just because a Republican is in
the White House. There is a concerted
effort by the Left to silence free speech and eradicate Christianity from the
public marketplace. The only course of
action is to stand and fight.”
I wholeheartedly agree!
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor,
Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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