Church Mandated To Rent Facility For Same-Sex Ceremonies

We seem to be in an age of increasing government mandates that strike at the very core of the freedom of religion. The HHS Mandate in just one example of government mandates that disregard freedom of religion. The latest example comes from Hutchinson, Kansas, a small town northwest of Wichita. If the Hutchinson Human Relations Commission has its way, churches will be mandated to rent out their facilities for same-sex “marriage” ceremonies.

It started back in November, 2011, when a group called the Kansas Equality Commission asked Hutchinson to add the terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to its non-discrimination ordinance. The Mayor asked the Hutchinson Human Relations Commission to study the idea and report back to the town within 90 days on its findings. The Human Relations Commission did study the issue and is recommending that the terms be added to the non-discrimination ordinance. In the process, it put together a document entitled an FAQ sheet. The sheet describes the practical effect of what would happen if these terms are added to the ordinance. Some of the more chilling aspects of the change include requiring employers and places of public accommodation to allow people to use whatever restroom fits their “gender identity” at the time. The proposed changes define “gender identity” as “a gender-related identity, appearance, expression or behavior of a person, regardless of the person’s assigned sex at birth.” What this means is that an employer or a business owner must allow a male to use the women’s restroom if he has the “appearance” or expresses the “behavior” of a female. But the proposed change to the ordinance doesn’t stop there. In the FAQ sheet, the Hutchinson Human Relations Commission states, “For example, if a church has a parish hall that they rent out to the general public, they could not discriminate against a gay couple who want to rent the building for a party. If the church only rents the building to their parishioners, they can continue to do so.” The proposed change in the ordinance would mandate the churches rent out their facilities for same-sex “marriage” ceremonies or homosexual-themed parties. Let me state this very simply – if this proposed change happens to the Hutchinson ordinance, mandating that churches rent their facilities out to people or groups that violate their sincerely held religious beliefs is patently unconstitutional. And ADF would represent any church that is faced with such overreach and unconstitutional mandate by the government. There is a battle raging between sexual liberty and religious freedom and there are those in our government who believe that in this conflict, religious freedom should always lose. The Church must remain vigilant and stand to protect the right for it to live according to its religious beliefs. It is unconstitutional for Hutchinson or any government to mandate conduct that forces a church to act in violation of its religious beliefs. We hope that Hutchinson will see that the Constitution already mandates religious freedom and that mandate trumps the one they are proposing. http://blog.speakupmovement.org/church/religious-freedom/churches-in-kansas-may-be-mandated-to-rent-their-facilities-for-same-sex-marriage-ceremonies/

Pastor addressing sex & the church

What a great article, check it out here

From a Christian Post article by Audrey Barrick, South Carolina megachurch pastor Perry Noble has stepped out to address a huge problem in the church – sex.

“Let’s just be honest. Sexual immorality is in the house,” he told his congregation, adding that he has seen sexual immorality at each of the three churches he has served.

“We can’t get mad at people that aren’t Christians because they act like they’re not Christians. But what we can do is talk about the mess we have in our own house and try to get it cleaned up.”

Perry started the two-week “Sex in the Church” series last weekend and will be concluding it on Sunday, Sept. 4.

Though an uncomfortable subject, he made it clear that the church should not be silent about sex especially considering the Bible “says a lot about the subject of sex.”

“The world is not silent about the subject of sex. They’re talking about it.”

Starting with the men, Perry urged those who have a playlist of songs that degrade women to delete them immediately.

“If we have a song on our iTunes playlist that refers to a woman as a bitch or a whore, we don’t listen to it. In fact, we delete it today because a godly man would never refer to a woman as a bitch or a whore,” the pastor said without hesitation.

read more http://deskofbrian.com/2011/09/south-carolina-trying-to-clean-up-sex-in-the-church/

Why Gay Initiatives keep Failing

31 states and (counting)...to 5 (plus some states with civil union provisions) and all 5 states were initiatives by their state legislatures or face a state constitutional vote.

"Gay marriage" lost its initiative in Maine while civil unions passed in Washington state. The gay community is still reeling from the reversal in California last year as Prop 8, the biggest mishandled referendum to date, still scorns homosexuals.

California and Maine are two liberal states, in fact, their idea of "Conservative" and electable Republicans are Olympia Snowe or Arnold Schwartzenegger.

So why are they failing?

I'm reminded of a blog post I read some time ago: "Marriage is a Religious Rite, not a Constitutional Right." Gay activists expect to overturn thousands of years of universally recognized morality and practice a "right"?

This is NOT just a battle with Bible thumpers from Southern Baptists Churches, homosexuality is NOT accepted by Jews or Muslims -- they murder homosexuals in the streets or Iran.

In May, a poll of 500 Muslims in Britain revealed zero tolerance towards homosexual acts. compared to their counterparts in France and Germany, according to a survey published today.¹ NONE! Even in France and Germany, the figure never tops 48%!

Activists CANNOT continue to pretend that they are fighting just the Christian Coalition, Pat Buchanan, but rather ALL RELIGIONS.

Likewise, a series of discrimination lawsuits against churches have followed legalizing gay marriages. In April the Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller posted this on his website:

"If necessary, we will explore legal actions to enforce and implement the court's ruling, working with the Iowa Dept. of Public Health and county attorneys."

Now we have lawsuits answering to lawsuits creating a larger and larger divide between both sides. It's hard to believe the gay community in sincere that "marriage" is what they desire, when churches are being FORCED to marry couples or face legal action.

Likewise, we already have a lawsuit in Maine against a teacher (Don Mendell) who appeared in an anti-gay marriage ad who is having his license brought into question. There is no such lawsuit against other educators who appeared in ads supporting the amendment. (Complete story below)

Next are the comparisons to civil rights and the civil rights movement itself.

Approximately 77% of the Black California voters, 92% of which voted for President Obama, voted DOWN Prop 8. They obviously DON'T see it as a RIGHT and definitely NOT a "civil right" comparable to the oppression of blacks.

There have been horrible crimes against gays, Matthew Shepard is the most famous case, but there are no separation of bathrooms, seats on a bus and certainly no lynchings like those in the 60's.

Most of us have people close to us that we care dearly for who are gay. Even Dick Cheney is NOT trying to lynch his daughter because she's a lesbian or his new grandchild.



Then we have a lack of leadership.

Sure President Obama can talk out of the other side of his mouth at a GLAAD fundraiser, but he's been enigmatic on the topic since taking office. He's just NOT willing to burn political capital for gay rights.

Where's the leaders of Congress: Barney Frank, Jared Polis (Colorado) or Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin) -- how many of you reading this NEVER heard of Polis or Baldwin???

I'm sure you'll hear about the massive amounts of money funding anti-gay ads, blaming out-of-staters swaying the votes in each of these states, but the pattern is clear -- no.

You are NOT going to undo someone's religious perspective on traditional values in this manner. You are NOT going to garner support by comparing your plight to that of the civil rights movement. You can't expect Christians to believe that "getting married" is the endgame when activist follow successful votes with attacks on churches.

More than anything let me state here that gay marriage, to me, is first and foremost a STATES issue and NOT a Federal one. To argue that the Constitution guarantees equal treatment to all citizens, both men and women, does not say anything about what constitutes marriage, or a family, or a business enterprise, or a university, or a friendship.

An appeal for equal treatment would certainly not lead a court to require that a small business enterprise be called a marriage just because two business partners prefer to think of their business that way.

Nor would equal treatment of citizens before the law require a court to conclude that those who pray before the start of sporting event should be allowed to redefine the NFL or NBA as churches.

The simple fact is that the civil right of equal treatment cannot constitute social reality by declaration. Civil rights protections function simply to assure every citizen equal treatment under the law depending on what the material dispute in law is all about. Law that is just must begin by properly recognizing and distinguishing identities and differences in reality in order to be able to give each its legal due.

This is where civil unions take the lead. Partnered with medical surrogates, power of attorney and other provisions, a gay couple would probably be better covered and bound than most married couples. In fact, I'd rather see these legal documents become a requirement, but that's another topic all together.

Forcing their perspective, always crying "homophobe" or playing the victim card will NEVER result in any changes. Attacking Christians or forcing churches to marry gay couples isn't going to win support. Marginalizing the black community with inappropriate comparisons to the "Civil Rights Movement" isn't going to garner any favor.

Maybe you disagree with me, but maybe you can understand where so many folks are coming from.

SPECIAL NOTE: I purposefully left the children our of the debate. One could write pages and expand on statements that I've made here, but I've tried to be simplistic and straight to the point. As a father of five children, I'm too biased to even speak on the effects of Kevin Jennings² and the Gay Tolerance in school movement. I find it divisive for the government, school board or even my Pastor, to DICTATE to me how I'm going to raise my kids and there's NO WAY I'd even try to defend their tactics.


1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/may/07/muslims-britain-france-germany-homosexuality

2. http://brandon7221.blogspot.com/2009/10/their-own-words-kevin-jennings.html

Press release on Maine lawsuit against Don Mendell:
http://www.asmainegoes.com/content/yes-1-situation-guidance-counselor-worse-we-thought