Free Republic

The Mennonite Church USA has voted to retire denomination-wide Membership Guidelines that prohibited pastors from performing same-sex weddings but will allow local church bodies to maintain the ban. The Membership Guidelines had prohibited pastors from performing same-sex weddings, defined marriage as being between one man and one woman, and labeled “homosexual, extramarital and premarital sexual activity” as sinful acts. At a special session of the Mennonite Church USA’s Delegate Assembly, held May 27-30 in Kansas City, Missouri, the official Membership Guidelines were retired by a vote of 404 in favor, 84 against, and three abstentions. Delegates at the special session...

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of a Christian web designer challenging a Colorado state law requiring her to create wedding websites for same-sex couples if she also offers similar services for other couples. In an orders list released Tuesday morning, the high court agreed to hear an appeal in the case of 303 Creative LLC et al v. Aubrey Elenis, et al.“The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted limited to the following question: Whether applying a public-accommodation law to compel an artist to speak or stay silent violates the Free Speech Clause of...

A federal judge in New York has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a “Christian” wedding photographer who demanded that the state’s nondiscrimination law be overturned, lest she be forced to photograph same-sex weddings. The woman, Emilee Carpenter, of Elmira, filed suit earlier this year, claiming that New York’s nondiscrimination law violates her First Amendment rights to free speech and free exercise of religion, and her Fourteenth Amendment right to due process. Carpenter claims to believe that marriage is a union between one man and one woman, and that weddings are meant to be “inherently religious and solemn events.” As such,...

A federal judge has ruled that a New York-based Christian photographer must provide services for same-sex wedding celebrations despite holding religious objections to gay marriage. Judge Frank Geraci, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, rejected a request by Emilee Carpenter of the upstate New York-based Emilee Carpenter Photography to grant a preliminary injunction against a state anti-discrimination law. In his ruling Monday, the Obama appointee concluded that “New York has a compelling interest in ensuring that individuals, without regard to sexual orientation, have equal access to publicly available goods and services, and that...

A Christian baker in Colorado who has been at the center of a yearslong debate after he declined to make a cake for a same-sex wedding has revealed the intense harassment and “horrific” response he and his business faced amid the fallout. “The emails [and] the phone calls were sometimes horrific,” Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips recently told the “Edifi With Billy Hallowell” podcast of the events that followed his July 2012 cake refusal. “You’d just hear profanity.” Phillips, who shares his story in the new book, The Cost of My Faith, said he had to protect his staff and...

A federal judge in Kentucky has ruled that the city of Louisville cannot force a Christian photographer to work same-sex weddings because the “Constitution does not require a choice between gay rights and freedom of speech.” U.S. District Judge Justin R. Walker on Friday ruled that Chelsey Nelson, a wedding photographer and blogger who is a Christian, can refuse to photograph and blog celebratory messages about same-sex weddings, according to the Christian legal firm Alliance Defending Freedom. As per a local ordinance, as interpreted by Louisville officials, Nelson would face substantial penalties, including damages, court orders and compliance reports, if...

It seems like only yesterday that we were talking about how the Hallmark Channel was throwing themselves into a social media firestorm by first accepting and then rejecting an advertisement from wedding planning company Zola featuring the nuptials of two brides. Oh, that’s right… it was yesterday. Well, that decision lasted less than a day. Faced with a growing backlash from Hollywood and on social media, the network turned around and said they would be accepting the advertisement(s) after all. (CBS News) The Hallmark Channel on Sunday moved to reinstate ads featuring a same-sex couple that had been removed...

Tis’ the season to be jolly, but not quite so gay apparently. At least on the Hallmark Channel.A wedding planning company named Zola had taken out some advertisements on the network, scheduled to run during the Christmas season. One ad in particular, however, stirred some controversy and brought complaints from One Million Moms, a conservative group opposed to gay marriage and indecency on television and in movies. At issue was an advertisement featuring a scene from a wedding with two brides. In response, Hallmark said they were pulling the ad. The tit for tat battle escalated and Zola said...

DEVON, England, June 18, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) -- Another royal wedding is about to dominate the media, albeit for a very different reason than Prince Harry and Meagan Markle’s recent nuptials. Lord Ivar Mountbatten, third cousin once removed to Queen Elizabeth, has announced he will be “marrying” James Coyle, marking the first same-sex “wedding” in the extended British royal family. Ivar came out as homosexual in 2016, several years after divorcing his wife Penny Mountbatten. The couple had three daughters, who are currently 15, 20, and 22 years old. But despite their divorce, Penny told the UK Daily Mail she’s so...

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to soon decide the next step in another high-profile religious liberty case, days after affirming that Colorado discriminated against a Christian small business owner. On Monday, the court ruled 7-2 that Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips was denied a fair hearing by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which the court found to have displayed anti-religious animus. Many are hailing the decision for its vindication of religious liberty in Phillips’ case, and others fear it may allow other regulators to coerce participation in same-sex “marriages,” as long as they don’t make hostile public statements while...

Someone asks "I have friends who are gay and planning a wedding. They know my beliefs on homosexuality — that it is not God's creative design. I'm expecting to receive a wedding invite anytime. What should I do?" Tim writes: These are tough questions — at first glance. What do I mean? One could agonize over such a question, but I believe the follower of Christ would recognize that he or she has one loyalty — to Jesus Christ. That means doing what the Bible says. I could refer to that text about not being unequally yoked — meaning a...

A court in Arizona has rejected arguments of evangelical Christian wedding invitation designers that a Phoenix ordinance protecting discrimination against LGBT people forces them to make artwork for same-sex couples, which is against their religious beliefs and freedoms of speech and religion. The Christians plan to appeal. Judge Karen Mullins of Maricopa County Superior Court this week ruled that the Phoenix ordinance does not violate Arizona's free speech and free exercise of religion laws, quashing an attempt by Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, owners of Brush & Nib Studio, to override the ordinance, AZ Central reported. The Phoenix non-discrimination ordinance...

In yet another case where an LGBT “non-discrimination” order trumped First Amendment rights, the Washington Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that conscience rights don’t matter when it comes to running a business. In the case of Ingersoll v. Arlene’s Flowers – in which a gay client sued Baronelle Stutzman, a Christian floral artist who refused to participate in his same-sex wedding – the Evergreen State’s high court ruled that Stutzman’s First Amendment rights to freedom and expression should be subjugated to the LGBT agenda.

The national office for the mainline denomination Presbyterian Church (USA), located in Louisville, Kentucky. The largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States recently hosted a same-sex wedding at its national office in Louisville, Kentucky. An official with Presbyterian Church (USA) officiated a wedding last Thursday between Paul Kempf and Robb Gwaltney at the Presbyterian Center's chapel. A PC(USA) spokesperson told The Christian Post that the ceremony had "perhaps 25 people in attendance, a combination of family and friends, along with a few staff." Gregg Brekke of the Presbyterian News Service wrote "… the ceremony [was conducted] by the Rev. David...

The month of June was a depressing one for conservatives. The Supreme Court’s 50-state mandate for gay marriage and the upholding of Obamacare were a disaster for religious liberty, and social conservatism seemed to be in retreat.But an encouraging new poll shows that by a margin of 4 to 1, Americans favor religious freedom and liberty over gay rights in the current culture war.The poll, conducted by Caddell Associates, asked questions regarding legal cases where religious liberties have been under assault.Via the Washington Examiner: “Suppose a Christian wedding photographer has deeply held religious beliefs opposing same sex marriage. If...

The Christian owners of a gift shop and bistro in Iowa, who were earlier charged with discrimination and had to pay for a settlement after refusing to hold a same-sex wedding at the venue, say they are now having to close down their business completely. Richard Odgaard and his wife, Betty, the owners of Görtz Haus Gallery in Grimes, Iowa, say they will close their business completely by the end of August, about two years after they told a gay couple from Des Moines their facility cannot be rented for the wedding. The gay couple promptly filed a discrimination complaint...

The new policy is phrased neutrally, as a ban on donations for anyone formally accused of “discriminatory acts,” but it’s obvious who the target is. Last week they shut down fundraising pages for Sweet Cakes by Melissa and Arlene’s Flowers, two Christian-owned businesses facing discrimination charges for declining to provide services to same-sex weddings, and caught hell for it from conservatives online. With good reason. Until this week, GoFundMe banned fundraising “in defense of formal charges of heinous crimes, including violent, hateful, or sexual acts,” but Sweet Cakes and Arlene’s Flowers weren’t accused of crimes. They were accused of...

Finally, an answer to the most important question of the 2016 election.Kidding aside, though, this is a bit surprising. The question of whether or not a candidate would attend the gay wedding of a loved one has become an increasingly common litmus test for candidates on the issue…The poll showed 56 percent of Republicans would attend the gay wedding of a loved one if invited. That compares with 80 percent of Democrats and 70 percent of independents, who said they would go.Overall, 68 percent of Americans would attend, the poll showed, while 19 percent would not and 13 percent...

Senator Marco Rubio, one of our most attractive and charismatic leaders in the rising generation, just announced he’s running for president. So naturally he’s being peppered with the one question uppermost in the minds of American voters: What do you think of gay marriage? Rubio is getting this hit, in part, because he’s trying to negotiate a Third Way: He’s for traditional marriage but will “respect” the rights of states to disagree. He thinks states should have the right to decide the definition of marriage, but (unlike Ted Cruz) he refused to sign onto an amicus brief asking the Supreme...

This is a YOUTUBE Audio interview. Hugh Hewitt's interview today with Rick Santorum Click on this link to listen to the interview.