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Pizza Shop Owners 'in Hiding' Amid Death Threats for Saying They 'Won't Cater Gay Weddings'
Christian Post ^ | 04/03/2015 | Samuel Smith

Posted on 04/03/2015 7:54:20 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

A high school golf coach in Indiana has been suspended after she threatened to burn down a local pizzeria when she heard its Christian owners say earlier this week that they'd refuse to cater gay weddings if asked to do so. The pizza shop has temporarily closed amid safety concerns after its owners received death threats this week.

After Gov. Mike Pence signed into law Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act last Thursday, the O'Connor family, which has owned Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Indiana, for over nine years, told a local ABC television news reporter on Tuesday that they agree with the new law and believe that it doesn't discriminate against homosexauls, as some claim.

Crystal O'Connor added that should a gay couple come in and want the pizzeria to cater their wedding, the restaurant would refuse to provide services for the event.

"If the gay couple was to come in and say that they wanted us to provide pizza for their wedding, we would have to say no," Crystal O'Connor told ABC 57 News reporter Alyssa Marino. "We are a Christian establishment."

"We're not discriminating against anyone — that's just our belief and anyone has the right to believe in anything," O'Connor added. "I do not think it is targeting gays. I don't think it's discrimination. [The law is] supposed to help people that have religious belief."

Kevin O'Connor, Crystal's father, told Marino that he feels that homosexuals "choose" to be gay.

"That lifestyle is something they choose. I choose to be heterosexual. They choose to be homosexual," O'Connor asserted. "Why should I be beat over the head to go along with something they choose?"

The O'Connor's comments drew the ire of many LGBT advocates and even caught the attention of Jess Dooley, a girls' golf coach at Concord High School in Elkhart, Indiana, who took to Twitter to voice her outrage and potentially incite violence upon the pizza shop.

"Who's going to Walkerton, IN to burn down #memoriespizza w me? Agree with #FreedomofReligionBill? 'That's a lifestyle they CHOOSE' Ignorant," Dooley tweeted from her since-deleted Twitter account.

On Wednesday, the school announced that Dooley was suspended indefinitely pending the results of a police investigation. The Walkerton Police Department issued a statement on the investigation and confirmed that Dooley could face charges.

"Questions have arisen based on Jessica Dooley's Twitter comment," the statement reads. "The Walkerton Police Department has finished an investigation into this statement and submitted a case to the St. Joseph County Prosecutors office for possible charging of harassment, intimidation and threats."

After receiving Dooley's threat and death threats, the O'Connors were forced to shut down their restaurant on Wednesday for safety reasons and are uncertain as to whether it will reopen.

"I don't know if we will reopen, or if we can, if it's safe to reopen," Crystal O'Connor told TheBlaze. "We're in hiding basically, staying in the house."

A GoFundMe online fundraising page has been set up for the pizzeria and has already raised over $165,000 in support for the O'Connor family as of Thursday afternoon. The fundraising page was set up by Dana Loesch and Lawrence B. Jones III of The Blaze, The Huffington Post reports.

"Nobody should ever have to suffer or suffer alone for their faith, for standing up for Christian principles," Loesch said.

Although O'Connor explicitly said the pizzeria would not provide services for gay weddings, some liberal media sources have reported on O'Connor's comments with the spin that O'Connor implied that gays were not welcome or would not be served in their restaurant.

But in an interview with the Daily Beast, Kevin O'Connor clarified the statement and the pizzeria's stance on serving gay weddings.

"I don't have a problem with gay people. I do not condone gay marriage and that's what I said," O'Connor explained. "I don't turn anybody away from the store. I don't have a problem with gay people. I just don't condone the marriage."

O'Connor also emphasized that the pizzeria has never been asked to cater any wedding and that the response was not based on an actual denial of service to a gay couple.

"It's hard to speak when things get taken so out of context and this thing goes sky high and just blows everything up," he said. "I've got a family to think about too."

In the wake of Indiana's RFRA law, a number of companies and organizations have voiced their opposition to the law. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has vowed to move its 2017 convention, which is scheduled to be in Indianaplois, as a result of RFRA.

Among the companies in opposition to RFRA is Angie's List, an online listing service. After voicing its opposition to the law, the Family Research Council and the American Familiy Association called on their members to boycott Angie's List.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Indiana
KEYWORDS: christian; gaystapo; homosexualagenda; indiana; pizzeria; rfra
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If Mike Pence had any balls, he'd put up police to guard the premise so that the family can re-open for business.

And if Christians in that town had any courage, they'd go and order a pizza just to show support.

1 posted on 04/03/2015 7:54:20 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

We see the tolerance of the tolerant left on display here, don’t we????


2 posted on 04/03/2015 7:56:11 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: SeekAndFind

> If Mike Pence had any balls

It’s painfully obvious that he does not.

> they’d go and order a pizza just to show support.

The pizza shop is closed.


3 posted on 04/03/2015 7:56:18 AM PDT by Westbrook (Children do not divide your love, they multiply it)
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To: All
The Clintons pocketed donations from the Sultan of Brunei who plans to execute homosexuals.

As Hollywood hotshots protested the Beverly Hills Hotel over its ownership by Brunei's sultan and his embrace of Sharia law, it turns out the Brunei government has financial connections to "The Clinton Foundation."

The tax-exempt, nonprofit Clinton foundation lists Brunei along with Kuwait, Oman and Qatar (new home of the Gitmo Five) as donors that gave between $1 million and $5 million through last year.

The Clinton foundation itself confirmed the 2002 Brunei donation: "The Clinton Foundation's impact would not be possible without the generous support of our donors," the foundation's website reads. "Their contributions have made a difference in the lives of tens of millions across the world." Read more at foxnews.com ...

=============================================

REFERENCE 2/4/15---NYP--PAGE SIX --- Bill Clinton solicits donations from Sultan planning to execute homosexuals.

As if Bill Clinton’s friendship with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein weren’t embarrassing enough, the two flew on Epstein’s jet in 2002 to meet with the Sultan of Brunei.

Sultan Bolkiah, one of the richest men in the world, not only plans to execute homosexuals, but his brother, Prince Jefri, has been accused of duping American women into “white slavery.”

The National Enquirer reports flight logs reveal Epstein — before he was arrested and jailed for soliciting teenage masseuses — picked up the former president at a Japanese naval airport and flew with him to Brunei on May 25, 2002.

Also onboard Epstein’s private 727 — dubbed “the orgy jet” — were Ghislaine Maxwell and Sarah Kellen, “both alleged ‘madames’ for Epstein’s kiddie sex ring,” the Enquirer states. Kellen was never arrested or charged with a crime and was granted immunity in a non-prosecution agreement in 2007. Maxwell has denied the allegations.

The Sultan later donated a sum between $1 million and $5 million to the Clinton Presidential Library.

The Post broke the story in 1997 about Shannon Marketic, the former Miss USA who sued Prince Jefri, claiming he had held her captive and forced her into performing sex acts for his party guests.

SOURCE http://pagesix.com/2015/02/04/bill-clintons-shady-friendships-outed-by-tabloids/

4 posted on 04/03/2015 7:56:25 AM PDT by Liz (Another Clinton administration? Are you nuts?)
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To: Dilbert San Diego

The sodomites and their enablers are anti-Christian bigots.


5 posted on 04/03/2015 7:57:02 AM PDT by who knows what evil? (Yehovah saved more animals than people on the ark...www.siameserescue.com)
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To: SeekAndFind
And if Christians in that town had any courage, they'd go and order a pizza just to show support.

Rather, they would be offering support in the form of guard duty.

6 posted on 04/03/2015 7:57:23 AM PDT by dware (The GOP is dead. Long live Conservatism.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Time to sue the Puff Host and the local CBS affiliate big time for spreading the fabricated, vile story about them that started all of this. Thread I started yesterday about this:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3274953/post


7 posted on 04/03/2015 7:57:37 AM PDT by OttawaFreeper ("Keeping your stick down used to be a commandment, but not anymore" Harry Sinden, 1988)
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To: SeekAndFind

$536,090


8 posted on 04/03/2015 7:58:15 AM PDT by samtheman
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To: SeekAndFind

The hatred and bigotry of the homosexual community is appalling


9 posted on 04/03/2015 7:59:19 AM PDT by realcleanguy
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To: OttawaFreeper

Sorry, original link did not work. Here is original story with ABC affiliate (not CBS, my bad).

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015/04/01/story-about-1st-business-to-publicly-vow-to-reject-gay-weddings-was-fabricated-out-of-nothing/#ixzz3W9w0LG00


10 posted on 04/03/2015 8:00:58 AM PDT by OttawaFreeper ("Keeping your stick down used to be a commandment, but not anymore" Harry Sinden, 1988)
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To: Liz

I’m positive the Sultan of Brunei has LOTS of connections with Bill Clinton.
If it involves women, the Sultan and Bill are involved.


11 posted on 04/03/2015 8:01:10 AM PDT by Zathras
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To: Westbrook

RE: The pizza shop is closed.

They have over half a million dollars in online donations and it will approach nearly a million by months end at this rate ( I suspect ).

They should open, and Christians should support them and encourage them to.


12 posted on 04/03/2015 8:01:35 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: samtheman

RE: $536,090

Amazing. They got that in three days!


13 posted on 04/03/2015 8:02:42 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

The gays better go into hiding because an awful lot of people of getting really tired of this sh*t......


14 posted on 04/03/2015 8:04:32 AM PDT by Envisioning (My desire to be well informed is at odds with my desire to remain sane....)
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To: Dilbert San Diego

15 posted on 04/03/2015 8:05:04 AM PDT by Old Sarge (Its the Sixties all over again, but with crappy music...)
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To: realcleanguy

The shop owners need to get their CWPs & announce that death threats will be met with deadly force.

A couple of faggies intent on mayhem getting popped will send a powerful message of its own.


16 posted on 04/03/2015 8:05:08 AM PDT by elcid1970 ("O Muslim! My bullets are dipped in pig grease.")
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To: SeekAndFind

I’d cater a gay wedding wearing a bowling shirt, shorts and sandals.


17 posted on 04/03/2015 8:05:17 AM PDT by Mike Darancette (Not deniable = Not falsifiable = Not science = Not even wrong.)
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To: SeekAndFind
As a former business owner I believed I had the right to turn away any potential client seeking my service as a tax professional. Sometimes, after a few minutes discussion of their tax situation I felt they were either trying to scam me or the tax system. When I felt that way, I suggested they go elsewhere to get their work done.

I never expalined why because I believed it was my right to not do the work they were asking for no matter whether that had the money to pay or not.

I still believe every business owner has the right to turn away any customer without explanation, but tact is important.

We should be willing to stand up for that right and face any judge who thinks otherwise.

18 posted on 04/03/2015 8:08:32 AM PDT by Rapscallion (Obama: All the news that's fit to control and manage.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Got an email from the pence camp yesterday. I replied I’d be giving my money to a Christian business who stood up for their faith. — the ones he chose to throw under the bus


19 posted on 04/03/2015 8:08:50 AM PDT by hoosiermama (Obama: "Born in Kenya" Lying now or then or now?)
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To: realcleanguy

The hatred and bigotry of the homosexual community is appalling.


These people are unhinged, mentally, messed up in the head. But they are enabled by the liberal media who want to push this story, with the homosexuals being the good guys. That’s what is going on here.

IN states which have these religious freedom laws, are there any documented cases of homosexuals being discriminated against?/ This whole thing reeks to me, of being an orchestrated campaign to make a homosexual political statement.


20 posted on 04/03/2015 8:08:51 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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