Coeur d‘Alene, Idaho has created an ordinance that forces pastors to marry gays or go to jail and get fined.
This follows the legal battle in the same town with ministers Donald and Evelyn Knapp, who refused to marry a gay couple last year and now face a $1000 per day fine and up to 180 days in jail.
With this the government has decided that religious freedom is subservient to the sexual preference of others.
A federal judge recently ruled that the state’s ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional, while the city of Coeur d‘Alene has an ordinance that prevents discrimination based on sexual preference.
The Supreme Court’s recent refusal to take on gay rights’ appeals from five states has opened the doors for same-sex marriages to go forth.
The Knapps were just asked by a gay couple to perform their wedding ceremony, The Daily Caller reported.
“On Friday, a same-sex couple asked to be married by the Knapps, and the Knapps politely declined,” The Daily Signal reported. “The Knapps now face a 180-day jail term and a $1,000 fine for each day they decline to celebrate the same-sex wedding.”
The Alliance Defending Freedom has filed a suit in federal court to stop the city from enforcing the fine and jail sentence, saying in a statement from senior legal counsel Jeremy Tedesco that the government has overstepped its bounds, The Daily Caller reported.
“Many have denied that pastors would ever be forced to perform ceremonies that are completely at odds with their faith, but that’s what is happening here — and it’s happened this quickly,” Mr. Tedersco said, The Daily Caller reported.
But the city sees it differently. As far back as May, city officials were insisting that their ordinance is indeed in line with law.
“If you turn away a gay couple, refuse to provide services for them, then in theory you violated our code, and you’re looking at a potential misdemeanor citation,” said Coeur d‘Alene City Attorney Warren Wilson, to KXLY months ago.
What I don’t understand is why t
Has the whole world gone mad? This is against all our freedoms!!!
NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Just plain wrong!
The concept is that religious ins$#%&!@*ution has exemptions from discrimination laws…..yes churches need to be allowed to discriminated….how awesome is that. Regardless….that does NOT allow a for profit business to discriminate..and that is what these pastors were running.
Now that we got that out of the way…after reading your later post…I don’t understand how you meant your first post. It is such a generalized statement…..
Good luck with that!
We said this would happen when the Supreme Court ruled. We were right. The Gay movement will do anything to get what they want. This group is a very small percentage and they were able to take our RIGHTS a way!! Just like the MUSLIM have done with what they want. Again it is only 1% of the population. Where do the other 99% RIGHTS come in????????????
Separation of “church” and “state”, means religious beliefs are not above the law. Religion is a means of control “the opiate of the m$#%&!@*es”. Jesus wasn’t a Christian, Buddha wasn’t a Buddhist, Allah wasn’t a Muslim, religions are man made belief structure based on pagan astronomical events. The movement of “heavenly bodies” i.e. Planets, stars, constellations, etc. science and logic rule, beliefs are personal and have no place in government.
Separation of church and state is a common phrase to represent government by fairness, fact, science, reason, logic, and justice OVER beliefs, supers$#%&!@*ions, rituals, etc
Where the hell is the govenor on this c**p, if he is for this, he is a enemy of the state and the pastors should file a law suit against this city or state