l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 Ministers Who Refuse to Perform Same-Sex Marriage Could Face Jail Time and
Exorbitant Fines
October 21, 2014 - 11:21 AM
By Ryan T. Anderson
For years, those in favor of same-sex marriage have argued that all
Americans should be free to live as they choose. And yet in countless cases,
the government has coerced those who simply wish to be free to live in
accordance with their belief that marriage is the union of a man and a woman.
Ministers face a 180-day jail term and $1,000 fine for each day they decline
to celebrate the same-sex wedding.
Just this weekend, a case has arisen in Idaho, where city officials have
told ordained ministers they have to celebrate same-sex weddings or face
fines and jail time.
The Idaho case involves Donald and Evelyn Knapp, both ordained ministers,
who run Hitching Post Wedding Chapel. Officials from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho,
told the couple that because the city has a non-discrimination statute that
includes sexual orientation and gender identity, and because the 9th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Idaho’s constitutional amendment
defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman, the couple would have
to officiate at same-sex weddings in their own chapel.
The non-discrimination statute applies to all “public accommodations,” and
the city views the chapel as a public accommodation.
On Friday, a same-sex couple asked to be married by the Knapps, and the
Knapps politely declined. The Knapps now face a 180-day jail term and $1,000
fine for each day they decline to celebrate the same-sex wedding.
A week of honoring their faith and declining to perform the ceremony could
cost the couple three and a half years in jail and $7,000 in fines.
Government Coercion
The Knapps have been married to each other for 47 years and are both
ordained ministers of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel.
They are “evangelical Christians who hold to historic Christian beliefs”
that “God created two distinct genders in His image” and “that God
ordained marriage to be between one man and one woman.”
But as a result of the courts redefining marriage and a city ordinance that
creates special privileges based on sexual orientation and gender identity,
the Knapps are facing government coercion.
Governmental recognition of same-sex relationships as marriages need not and
should not require any third party to recognize a same-sex relationship as
a marriage. Government should respect the rights of all citizens. Indeed, a
form of government respectful of free association, free contracts, free
speech and free exercise of religion should protect citizens’ rights to
live according to their beliefs about marriage.
The Knapps have been celebrating weddings in their chapel since 1989.
Government should not now force them to shut down or violate their beliefs.
After all, protecting religious liberty and the rights of conscience does
not infringe on anyone’s sexual freedoms. No one has a right to have the
government force a particular minister to marry them. Some citizens may
conclude that they cannot in good conscience participate in same-sex
ceremonies, from priests and pastors to bakers and florists. They should not
be forced to choose between strongly held religious beliefs and their
livelihood.
What Can Be Done
At the federal level, Congress has an opportunity to protect religious
liberty and the rights of conscience.
Government should not now force ordained ministers to shut down or violate
their beliefs.
Policy should prohibit the government from discriminating against any
individual or group, whether nonprofit or for-profit, based on their beliefs
that marriage is the union of a man and woman or that sexual relations are
reserved for marriage. The government should be prohibited from
discriminating against such groups or individuals in tax policy, employment,
licensing, accreditation or contracting.
The Marriage and Religious Freedom Act—sponsored by Rep. Raul Labrador, R-
Idaho, in the House (H.R. 3133) with more than 100 co-sponsors of both
parties, and sponsored by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, in the Senate (S. 1808)
with 17 co-sponsors—would prevent the federal government from taking such
adverse actions.
States need similar policy protections, including broad protections provided
by state-level Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRAs) and specific
protections for beliefs and actions about marriage.
Indeed, Idaho has a RFRA, called the Free Exercise of Religion Protected Act
(FERPA). State RFRAs prevent the imposition of substantial burdens on
sincere religious beliefs unless the government proves that such a burden
advances a compelling government interest that has been pursued through the
least restrictive means possible.
Protecting Religious Liberty
It is unclear how the city could claim that forcing the Knapps to perform a
same-sex wedding is a compelling government interest being pursued in the
least restrictive way. There are numerous other venues where a same-sex
couple could get married. Indeed, there is a county clerks office directly
across the street from the chapel.
States must protect the rights of Americans and the associations they form—
both nonprofit and for-profit—to speak and act in the public square in
accordance with their beliefs. It is particularly egregious that the city
would coerce ordained ministers to celebrate a religious ceremony in their
chapel. The Alliance Defending Freedom has filed a motion arguing that this
action “violates [the Knapps’s] First and 14th Amendment rights to freedom
of speech, the free exercise of religion, substantive due process, and
equal protection.”
Citizens must work to prevent or repeal laws that create special privileges
based on sexual orientation and gender identity. We must also insist on laws
that protect religious freedom and the rights of conscience.
Protecting religious liberty and the rights of conscience is the embodiment
of a principled pluralism that fosters a more diverse civil sphere. Indeed,
tolerance is essential to promoting peaceful coexistence even amid
disagreement.
Ryan T. Anderson researches and writes about marriage and religious liberty
as the William E. Simon Fellow at The Heritage Foundation. He also focuses
on justice and moral principles in economic thought, health care and
education, and has expertise in bioethics and natural law theory. | D**s
发帖数: 6361 | 2 其实，如果神父抬出圣经来自辩，连宪法都要靠边站...
cases,
woman.
decline
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: Ministers Who Refuse to Perform Same-Sex Marriage Could Face Jail Time and
: Exorbitant Fines
: October 21, 2014 - 11:21 AM
: By Ryan T. Anderson
: For years, those in favor of same-sex marriage have argued that all
: Americans should be free to live as they choose. And yet in countless cases,
: the government has coerced those who simply wish to be free to live in
: accordance with their belief that marriage is the union of a man and a woman.
: Ministers face a 180-day jail term and $1,000 fine for each day they decline
: to celebrate the same-sex wedding.
| n****g
发帖数: 14743 | 3 靠。美国下坡路走得越来越快。
cases,
woman.
decline
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: Ministers Who Refuse to Perform Same-Sex Marriage Could Face Jail Time and
: Exorbitant Fines
: October 21, 2014 - 11:21 AM
: By Ryan T. Anderson
: For years, those in favor of same-sex marriage have argued that all
: Americans should be free to live as they choose. And yet in countless cases,
: the government has coerced those who simply wish to be free to live in
: accordance with their belief that marriage is the union of a man and a woman.
: Ministers face a 180-day jail term and $1,000 fine for each day they decline
: to celebrate the same-sex wedding.
| d*****n
发帖数: 754 | 4 中国政府正好批判美国迫害宗教自由了
cases,
woman.
decline
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: Ministers Who Refuse to Perform Same-Sex Marriage Could Face Jail Time and
: Exorbitant Fines
: October 21, 2014 - 11:21 AM
: By Ryan T. Anderson
: For years, those in favor of same-sex marriage have argued that all
: Americans should be free to live as they choose. And yet in countless cases,
: the government has coerced those who simply wish to be free to live in
: accordance with their belief that marriage is the union of a man and a woman.
: Ministers face a 180-day jail term and $1,000 fine for each day they decline
: to celebrate the same-sex wedding.
| n****g
发帖数: 14743 | 5 铲子批判美国，都是引用美国自己批判美国的资料
and
【在 d*****n 的大作中提到】
: 中国政府正好批判美国迫害宗教自由了
:
: cases,
: woman.
: decline
| j*****v
发帖数: 7717 | | d*b
发帖数: 4184 | 7 屁精们的人权,就是随意陷害别人践踏别人的基本人权. | t*c
发帖数: 8291 | 8 最令人发指的是同性恋收养小孩。
估计大部分被收养的小孩逃不过他们parents 1 & 2 的性侵。
左派只保护同性恋的自由，却不保护小孩子的人权，太令人发指了。
【在 d*b 的大作中提到】
: 屁精们的人权,就是随意陷害别人践踏别人的基本人权.
| j*****v
发帖数: 7717 | 9 同性戀左婢為了自己養小孩的快樂，哪會管小孩在正常家庭成長的快樂是否被剝奪掉
【在 t*c 的大作中提到】
: 最令人发指的是同性恋收养小孩。
: 估计大部分被收养的小孩逃不过他们parents 1 & 2 的性侵。
: 左派只保护同性恋的自由，却不保护小孩子的人权，太令人发指了。
| m********g
发帖数: 10469 | | s*****n
发帖数: 360 | 11 怎么看都像假新闻呢
cases,
woman.
decline
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: Ministers Who Refuse to Perform Same-Sex Marriage Could Face Jail Time and
: Exorbitant Fines
: October 21, 2014 - 11:21 AM
: By Ryan T. Anderson
: For years, those in favor of same-sex marriage have argued that all
: Americans should be free to live as they choose. And yet in countless cases,
: the government has coerced those who simply wish to be free to live in
: accordance with their belief that marriage is the union of a man and a woman.
: Ministers face a 180-day jail term and $1,000 fine for each day they decline
: to celebrate the same-sex wedding.
|
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