Posted on 05/27/2004 6:36:54 PM PDT by tuckrdout
Gay rights group: Church broke law By ALLISON FARRELL Gazette State Bureau
HELENA - Gay rights advocates filed a complaint with the Commissioner of Political Practices against the Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church Wednesday, saying the church inappropriately held an event to support a proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage.
Montanans for Families and Fairness, a coalition that includes InterMountain Planned Parenthood, PRIDE and the Montana Human Rights Network, said in the complaint that the church failed to report to the state commissioner it used its "in-kind" resources to support the proposed constitutional ban.
Petitions supporting the proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage in Montana were circulated at a church event Sunday night. The initiative will be placed on the November ballot if 41,000 voters sign a petition in favor of the measure.
"They made an expense on behalf of this thing," said Rob Hill, campaign director for the coalition that filed the complaint. "We believe they have to file with the commissioner's office. They haven't done that."
The Rev. B.G. Stumberg, who leads the church, was surprised to hear from a reporter Wednesday that someone filed a complaint against his parish.
"I don't know what they're talking about," Stumberg said, after hearing the details of the complaint. "We haven't given a cent. The only thing we've done is we've spoken out for marriage."
The Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church opened its doors Sunday night for a broadcast event that piped in leading national evangelical leaders, including James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Chuck Colson of the Prison Fellowship, who promoted traditional marriage.
Petitions supporting the constitutional ban against gay marriage were circulated, and signed, Stumberg said. He said the church did nothing wrong.
"If they want to go to court about it, I guess I'll get me a lawyer," Stumberg said.
(Excerpt) Read more at billingsgazette.com ...
Seperation of Church and State is NOT in the constitution. It comes from a letter by Thomas Jefferson.
Not that it matters any more.
Thanks. We all know that my comment was politically incorrect, but very true.
Bingo! Funny how that works, eh?
When I got married to my husband I was under the impression that what we were doing was a sacred thing...between him, me and my God....I thought it was a personal thing between me and the man I love. I thought I was entering into an institution ordained by God. It's sad to think that what I have believed for long, as something beautiful and something to be cherished and nurtured has now been brought down to some political issue....sleazed up by some people who want to pervert it into something that goes against the laws of nature...
God ordained marriage between a man and a woman right from the get go...it is a church doctrine...(a sacrament in the catholic church) a doctrine that must be defended.
If THE CHURCH cannot stand up for marriage..what's next? Maybe we will follow the ways of Canada and make it a hate crime to even read portions of scripture that denounce homosexuality...dark days are coming if we don't nip this thing in the bud.
A lot of the SS and Nazi elite were homosexual, and there is good evidence Hitler was as well. If you haven't read "The Pink Swastika" yet, you should. It's an eye opener. There are a lot of homosexuals who are not effeminate at all; they are militant, hateful, angry, take steriods and work out, and play with Nazi uniforms to this day. The picture of the effeminate homosexual interior decorater is only partly true. Many are the opposite - overtly butch, mean and ready to fight, one way or the other.
We are indeed living in dangerous times.
I just saw a report on your fight, on the news last night! God go with you. Hold fast. Be brave. We can win this fight, if we do not lose heart.
We must follow the example of our forefathers and be willing to lose all that we have, in order that our children can live in a better society than we have now.
"and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them"
One could argue that our nation was founded on the "Laws of Nature"...which is where we obtain our "equal powers". Nature devised a system and we live under that system.
The homosexual lives against the "Laws of nature". They lust after that which is not natural, and in fact is unhealthy. There IS something wrong in the makeup of a person who craves this behavior. Abusing the excreatory system is unhealthy! The practice should be discouraged instead of encouraged. And the government needs to leave people alone who tell the truth.
You are getting more than words from me, my friend! You are getting prayers! Many of them.
Here is and another article on our local fight:
http://www.montanasnews.com/articles.php?mode=comments&id=1333
Hey Jo-Jo, here is an explaination:
http://www2.state.mt.us/cpp/css/1abouttheagency/missionhistory.asp
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