Posted on 10/20/2014 6:26:25 AM PDT by thirst4truth
COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a federal lawsuit and a motion for a temporary restraining order Friday to stop officials in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, from forcing two ordained Christian ministers to perform wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples.
City officials told Donald Knapp that he and his wife Evelyn, both ordained ministers who run Hitching Post Wedding Chapel, are required to perform such ceremonies or face months in jail and/or thousands of dollars in fines. The city claims its “non-discrimination” ordinance requires the Knapps to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies now that the courts have overridden Idaho’s voter-approved constitutional amendment that affirmed marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
“The government should not force ordained ministers to act contrary to their faith under threat of jail time and criminal fines,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “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. The city is on seriously flawed legal ground, and our lawsuit intends to ensure that this couple’s freedom to adhere to their own faith as pastors is protected just as the First Amendment intended.”
“The government exists to protect and respect our freedoms, not attack them,” Tedesco added. “The city cannot erase these fundamental freedoms and replace them with government coercion and intolerance.”
The Hitching Post Wedding Chapel is across the street from the Kootenai County Clerk’s office, which issues marriage licenses. The Knapps, both in their 60s and who themselves have been married for 47 years, began operating the wedding chapel in 1989 as a ministry. They perform religious wedding ceremonies, which include references to God, the invocation of God’s blessing on the union, brief remarks drawn from the Bible designed to encourage the couple and help them to have a successful marriage, and more. They also provide each couple they marry with a CD that includes two sermons about marriage, and they recommend numerous Christian books on the subject. The Knapps charge a small fee for their services.
Coeur d’Alene officials told the Knapps privately and also publicly stated that the couple would violate the city’s public accommodations statute once same-sex marriage became legal in Idaho if they declined to perform a same-sex ceremony at their chapel. On Friday, the Knapps respectfully declined such a ceremony and now face up to 180 days in jail and up to $1,000 in fines for each day they decline to perform that ceremony.
“The city somehow expects ordained pastors to flip a switch and turn off all faithfulness to their God and their vows,” explained ADF Legal Counsel Jonathan Scruggs. “The U.S. Constitution as well as federal and state law clearly stand against that. The city cannot mandate across-the-board conformity to its interpretation of a city ordinance in utter disregard for the guaranteed freedoms Americans treasure in our society.”
Virginia McNulty Robinson, one of nearly 2,500 private attorneys allied with ADF, is serving as local counsel on behalf of the Knapps in Knapp v. City of Coeur d’Alene, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho.
Pronunciation guide: Tedesco (Tuh-DESS’-koh)
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.
Impeach the judges.
It’s the only solution.
Show them the back door.
TYRANNY!
It begins.
Sounds like a job for the militia.
Why didn’t the “couple” just go to a mosque? That woulda learned those capitalist Christian pigs a lesson.
the Knapps could always become muslim, and then countersue for having their beliefs “disrespected”. It only takes a phrase.
checkmate
“The city cannot erase these fundamental freedoms and replace them with government coercion and intolerance.”
Sure, it can. Just watch the “tolerant” liberals do it.
We will be sending money to ADF. The ADF cases defending college student’s freedom formed the basis for the film “God’s Not Dead”.
ADF has been remarkably successful so far in defending religious freedom.
Guess they're throwing out the 1st Amendment now too?,
They've been chipping away at the 2nd Amendment.
The 4th Amendment gets pushed to the limit at checkpoints.
The 6th Amendment doesn't apply if you happen to be a white person defending your life and end up killing the black person assaulting you.
The 9th Amendment seems to be forgotten.
The federal government sure seems to ignore the 10th Amendment.
Do muslims perform weddings? Just curious....
yes, especially temporary ones, preferably where the bride is underage and unwilling. That is there favorite kind.
If there are goats present, then yes.
Do civil disobedence!
Isn’t a liberal government in Coeur d’Alene one of the signs of the End Times?
I’m not sure how this one will play out. Although forcing businesses to provide gays wedding services is definitely unconstitutional, it has been established for the time being.
This wedding chapel is being run as a business, not as a church with a congregation so they may be screwed with the precedent regarding other businesses who have been “forced” to comply.
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