17 June 2008
The Gay Agenda Threatens Religious Freedom
Posted by Joy Bischoff under: Judaeo-Christian Values Under Attack .
This article is disturbing and shows the trend toward restricting religions from teaching against homosexuality. For now gay activists are trying not to be too alarming regarding religious freedom and forcing acceptance of homosexuality, but step by step they will attempt to remove all obstacles. I believe they will eventually try and remove exemption status for churches who refuse to accept the gay lifestyle.
Gay marriage: a new bind for church groups
Religiously affiliated schools, hospitals, and others may be the next flash point.
Oakland, Calif. - The same-sex marriage march begins across California Tuesday, with thousands of gay couples expected to wed in the coming weeks. But some notes of discord and rebellion can already be heard above Pachelbel’s Canon.
Several county clerks have said they will stop performing marriage ceremonies for all couples, gay or straight. And the state supreme court, fresh from its decision to legalize gay marriage, will decide shortly on whether a private-practice doctor can deny artificial insemination to a lesbian couple.
As gay marriage gains wider legal footing, scholars anticipate a flood of such conscientious objector cases. A key flash point will be religiously affiliated organizations that serve the public, such as hospitals, schools, and adoption agencies, and hold beliefs opposed to gay marriage.
Gay rights advocates say the courts have found workable compromises so far. But opponents warn that religious groups may have to retreat dramatically from the public square unless legislatures agree to create some religious exemptions.
“As gays come out of the closet, conservative religious people are put back in the sanctuary,” says Marc Stern, general counsel for the American Jewish Congress in New York.
He expects legal battles ahead in religious schools, youth groups, and summer camps. Some recent cases have already alarmed lawyers for religious groups:
• In 2006, a Methodist group in New Jersey that rented out its boardwalk to the public for weddings lost tax exemptions after refusing to allow a same-sex commitment ceremony.
• In April, a New Mexico human rights commission charged a wedding photographer in Albuquerque thousands of dollars in legal fees after she refused, based on her Christian beliefs, a request to shoot a commitment ceremony.
• After the legalization of gay marriage in Massachusetts, the legislature refused to grant longtime adoption provider Catholic Charities a religious exemption to let it place children with heterosexual parents only.
Stern notes that Catholic Charities in Boston ultimately withdrew from providing adoption services to the public. Though it lost its exemption case, he feels exemptions are the best way to avoid the cloistering of religious-based groups. . .
Stern suggests, however, that gay marriage tends to make sexual orientation more explicit in many contexts, such as hotel accommodations, making more clashes inevitable. And the high court’s rhetoric – comparing same-sex marriage bans to inter-racial marriage bans – threatens to elevate the level of protection afforded sexual orientation.
“If the courts threat this as a ban on racial discrimination,” says Stern, “then there’s not much likelihood that any religious claims will survive.”
8 Comments so far...
Carrie Says:
17 June 2008 at 11:21 am.
That last sentence is really scary. I agree with Joy. They wont stop until they force us to agree with them or keep our mouths shut about it.
Jesse Says:
17 June 2008 at 11:37 am.
Right, those cases that are sited in the article show we are fast sliding down the slippery slope.
The Realist Says:
17 June 2008 at 1:34 pm.
The part about the New Mexico photographer is really ridiculous. That is so unconstitutional.
CindyL. Says:
17 June 2008 at 3:59 pm.
I so agree that this is heading for trouble. Those gay activists are so fanatical. They won’t be happy until they force us all to say we agree with them. We don’t have the right to our own opinion as far as most of them are concerned. Very nazi like movement.
Ghost Says:
17 June 2008 at 8:40 pm.
So the people of CA voted against gay marriage a couple of years ago but a judge overturned it so they can marry. Now it will be on the Nov ballot again. If the people vote against it again, won’t another judge just overturn that? I don’t get it.
Nalvy Says:
17 June 2008 at 10:25 pm.
Its a no win situation Ghost… either way the Gay community is going to get what they want…if it isnt passed they yell oppressoin and if it is passed they move on to other sacred institutions.
Honestly someday we are all going to be put in the situation where we have to choose to either stand up for what we believe or turn into sheep and follow the herd. Personally I am not going to bend on the subject…they can charge me thousands of dollars but hey if they can say i am oppressing their rights i can counter that with the fact they are taking mine away.
Joy Bischoff Says:
17 June 2008 at 11:48 pm.
Good for you, Nalvy.
Cavetrollhead Says:
18 June 2008 at 1:18 am.
Careful The Realist, you might get sued for speaking your mind.
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