Posted on 10/18/2014 4:09:39 PM PDT by EternalVigilance
Two Christian ministers who own an Idaho wedding chapel were told they had to either perform same-sex weddings or face jail time and up to $1,000 in daily fines, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court.
Alliance Defending Freedom is representing Donald and Evelyn Knapp, two ordained ministers who own the Hitching Post Wedding Chapel in Coeur d’Alene.
“Right now they are at risk of being prosecuted,” attorney Jeremy Tedesco told me. “The threat of enforcement is more than just credible.”
The wedding chapel is registered as a “religious corporation” limited to performing “one-man-one-woman marriages as defined by the Holy Bible.”
However, the chapel is also a for-profit business and city officials said that means the owners must comply with the local nondiscrimination ordinance.
That ordinance, passed in 2013, prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and it applies to housing, employment and public accommodation.
City Attorney Warren Wilson told The Spokesman-Review in May that the Hitching Post Wedding Chapel likely would be required to follow the ordinance.
“I would think that the Hitching Post would probably be considered a place of public accommodation that would be subject to the ordinance,” he said.
He also told television station KXLY that any wedding chapel that turns away a gay couple would in theory be a violation of the law “and you’re looking at a potential misdemeanor citation.”
Wilson confirmed to Knapp in a telephone conversation that even ordained ministers would be required to perform same-sex weddings, the lawsuit alleges.
(Excerpt) Read more at radio.foxnews.com ...
Me, I'd ignore all fines, summons, and legal action and continue going about my business. Because the judge in the sky trumps the one wearing a cheap polyester black robe made in Haiti, any day.
I lived in Idaho for years and never once encountered an overt sodomite, or anyone who spoke out in favor of them.
One, there are lots of ways to fight back without going to jail.
Two, folks are going to have to become willing to go to jail if necessary.
This country is getting creepier by the minute. Satan knows his days are numbered and is pulling out the stops. The lukewarm Christians are sitting on their hands as has been prophesized.
I believe you have misplaced a decimal point.
US constitution Amendment 1
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Idaho Constitution
SECTION 4. GUARANTY OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. The exercise and enjoyment of religious faith and worship shall forever be guaranteed; and no person shall be denied any civil or political right, privilege, or capacity on account of his religious opinions; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be construed to dispense with oaths or affirmations, or excuse acts of licentiousness or justify polygamous or other pernicious practices, inconsistent with morality or the peace or safety of the state; nor to permit any person, organization, or association to directly or indirectly aid or abet, counsel or advise any person to commit the crime of bigamy or polygamy, or any other crime. No person shall be required to attend or support any ministry or place of worship, religious sect or denomination, or pay tithes against his consent; nor shall any preference be given by law to any religious denomination or mode of worship. Bigamy and polygamy are forever prohibited in the state, and the legislature shall provide by law for the punishment of such crimes.
Don’t these apply anymore?
I say they do.
New story in the Spokesman-Review:
“I just can’t break what I believe,” said ordained minister Don Knapp...
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/oct/17/hitching-post-sues-coeur-dalene-after-declining-ma/
The Hitching Post Wedding Chapel appears to be a church and should be tax exempt and First Amendment protections.
Violating our rights to free association was the harbinger of forcing business to deal with those they would rather not.
Or, wear a goofy wig, get the nails painted, some fake tattoos, do not bathe, bring in cow manure on shoes...make it a wedding to remember..
There are a fair number of liberals in Coeur d’Alene and immediate surroundings and I don’t think they realize how many firearms everyone else has.
A minister refused to marry my husband and myself. He didn’t like the fact that we co-habitated before marriae. The next minister would only marry us if we agreed to a month’s couples counseling and prayer.
Hubby is an agnostic, so we found someone else.
It *never* occurred to me that we had a right to force anyone to marry us - under any circumstances. Because we didn’t. It took about a week to find the right match for our circumstances. Neither of us were offended at any point. They had their rules and we had lines that we wouldn’t cross. Being turned away because we’d ‘lived in sin’ - that didn’t make a lot of sense to me. I would think that a minister would want to make it right.
Whatever. It wasn’t that big of a deal.
You're full of crap and speaking from the "Ebola State", no less.
Prayers up for these Christians.
Now that I think about it, I’ve had a masseur turn me away because of a previous spinal surgery, a pedicurist turn me away because she thought that an allergic reaction was a fungal infection (she was wrong), a dentist kick me out of his office because I cried when he gave me the shots, a man refuse to sell me a gun because I ‘looked too young’ and didn’t have enough training...
My daughter was just turned down by two photographers - one because she didn’t have the right ‘look’ (for photos that she’s paying for...??) and another because she didn’t ‘do’ old timey pin-up style photos. (She thought they were trashy.)
People turn down business all the time for a variety of reason. So a person keeps shopping until they find someone who will do business with them.
A meet them outside their offices with a Rail for their ride out of town with warning not to return again in official capacity. It is literally going to take acts our forefathers used to shame all elected officials who trample on our rights, freedoms, and lives unlawfully. If shame doesn't work well then Mr Thomas Jefferson penned an other document for us to go by as well.
They’re actually incorporated as a for-profit business, which is what opens the door to this sort of lawsuit.
Given the Hobby Lobby ruling, there’s no way this will survive a Supreme Court challenge. However getting there is going to be incredibly expensive for the chapel, and the plaintiffs are going to have very deep pockets to draw their funding from.
This is, pure and simple, Lawfare. Make this chapel’s owners defend themselves through multiple rulings and appeals, hopefully bankrupt them in the process. Setting an example for others.
66.5M Queers?? try 7M (2% of 350)
You mean the Simpson influence in WY isn’t still strong?
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