Posted on 10/18/2014 4:09:39 PM PDT by EternalVigilance
Two Christian ministers who own an Idaho wedding chapel were told they had to either perform same-sex weddings or face jail time and up to $1,000 in daily fines, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court.
Alliance Defending Freedom is representing Donald and Evelyn Knapp, two ordained ministers who own the Hitching Post Wedding Chapel in Coeur d’Alene.
“Right now they are at risk of being prosecuted,” attorney Jeremy Tedesco told me. “The threat of enforcement is more than just credible.”
The wedding chapel is registered as a “religious corporation” limited to performing “one-man-one-woman marriages as defined by the Holy Bible.”
However, the chapel is also a for-profit business and city officials said that means the owners must comply with the local nondiscrimination ordinance.
That ordinance, passed in 2013, prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and it applies to housing, employment and public accommodation.
City Attorney Warren Wilson told The Spokesman-Review in May that the Hitching Post Wedding Chapel likely would be required to follow the ordinance.
“I would think that the Hitching Post would probably be considered a place of public accommodation that would be subject to the ordinance,” he said.
He also told television station KXLY that any wedding chapel that turns away a gay couple would in theory be a violation of the law “and you’re looking at a potential misdemeanor citation.”
Wilson confirmed to Knapp in a telephone conversation that even ordained ministers would be required to perform same-sex weddings, the lawsuit alleges.
(Excerpt) Read more at radio.foxnews.com ...
Christians have fought wars over far less than this.
Slaves of state.
That's their mistake. Reincorporate as a church and avoid the problem.
~Spartan
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I was married by an Airborne, Army Chaplain, but I thought that clergy were always asked to perform a wedding, not that they are required to.
Do the queer wedding but the ministers need to dress up in Satan costumes, or maybe Bozo outfits.
No law against that.
Shouldn’t matter either way.
Interesting. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Is it a mistake? Do constitutional rights end when one creates a business?
That didn’t take long, did it?
Bump
“... not that they are required to.”
Silly! That was in the old America before the homo fascists took over.
Right. Tell ‘em “sure, I’ll do it. But let me warn you, my wedding sermons can go really long. Sometimes whole days, or even weeks, at least, because it takes a long time to tell the whole story of how abominations land you in hell for eternity.”
Reincorporate as a church?
A church doesn’t need to incorporate. I have started some churches and they don’t need to incorporate.
Nope.
Is there a legal requirement for a ceremony to accompany a marriage? If not, I’d just ask to see the gay couple’s marriage license and then sign it and say, “OK, you’re legally married in the eyes of the state. Have a nice day.” Then send them away.
“Gay Marriage” has been legal in Idaho for less than a week, and already someone threatened with jail time for refusing to allow it in their ministry.
Satan and Bozo costumes? What an idea. Does the “law” mandate a dress code?
I agree with you, it shouldn't. But I was thinking with my lawyer hat on: How can I help a client avoid this problem?
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