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Death of the 1st Amendment: Oregon Bakers Who Refused to Bake Homosexual Wedding Cake Found Guilty

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Photo Credit: Family Research Council Make them bake cake! That’s the verdict of an administrative judge in the case of Oregon bakers Aaron and Melissa Klein. The couple, who became the brave face of America’s religious liberty clash, were informed yesterday by the state’s Bureau of Labor and Industries that in the battle over marriage, their First Amendment rights no longer counted.

In the first of what will almost certainly be several rulings, the Kleins were found guilty of violating state law for politely declining an order for a same-sex “wedding” cake. As part of his 52-page order, Judge Alan McCullough claims that “requiring them to provide a wedding cake for Complainants does not constitute compelled speech.” Aaron Klein disagrees. “First Amendment, Constitution. Freedom of religion. I’m free to exercise my religion however I see fit. If I’m told to make a wedding cake for a same-sex marriage, I feel that I’m violating my beliefs. I don’t think I should have to do that.”

Unfortunately for the parents of five, wedding vendors like them may soon have no choice. In the free market, the courts no longer seem to recognize the right to believe what you want. Owners of small businesses like Sweet Cakes by Melissa, Arlene’s Flowers, Simply Elegant Wedding Planning, Hands On Originals, and others are seen as nothing more than tools of the government to think and believe as the state sees fit. If they refuse, as Aaron and Melissa have done, Oregon is threatening to bring the full weight of the government to bear.

A hearing on March 10 will decide exactly how much the Kleins’ courage will cost them. As much as $200,000 could be at stake for a family who’s already been forced to close their shop and scrape together the money they need to make up for that lost income. Anna Harmon, one of the Kleins’ three attorneys, said that although the judge tossed out every claim but one, it’s still a tough loss. “Americans should not have to choose between adhering to their faith or closing their business, but that is what this decision means… The judge ruled wrongly that the Kleins’ right not to design and create a work of art celebrating an event which violates the tenets of their religion is not protected by the Oregon or Federal Constitutions. This is a dangerous result for religious liberty and rights of conscience in Oregon…” (Read more about the suit about the Oregon bakers HERE)

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Jeb Bush: Shut-Up and Accept Homosexual Marriage (and Pretend the Courts Follow the Constitution)

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By Philip Rucker. Has Jeb Bush offered the Republican Party a new way to talk about same-sex marriage? . .

In 1994, Jeb Bush argued that gay men and lesbians did not deserve special legal protection and said that “sodomy” should not be “elevated to the same constitutional status as race and religion.” But this week, Bush said people should accept court rulings that legalize same-sex marriage and “show respect” for gays in committed relationships, while reiterating his long-held belief that “marriage is a sacrament.”

Bush is trying to shift the Republican Party’s rhetoric on an issue on which the public has been evolving much faster than the GOP. A party that not long ago championed its opposition to same-sex marriage now finds itself on the defensive — even within its own ranks, where social conservatives are at odds with business leaders and young people who openly support gay rights.

In recent presidential cycles, Republican candidates have proudly carried the conservative evangelical banner on same-sex marriage, asserting as Mitt Romney did in 2012 that marriage should be between a man and a woman. But the 2016 GOP field divides into two camps, according to gay rights activists. Most potential candidates have said they oppose same-sex marriage, but some — including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence — have suggested that it is not a motivating concern and that they would focus on other issues. (Read more about Jeb Bush urging the GOP to accept homosexual marriage HERE)

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Children Raised by Homosexuals Recount “Unpleasant Upbringings,” Oppose Same-Sex Marriage

By Cheryl Wetzstein. [F]our adult children of gay parents — acting as a “quartet of truth” — have submitted briefs to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opposing same-sex marriages, with several saying that growing up under the rainbow was neither normal nor pleasant. The court, which is considering whether to uphold the man-woman marriage laws in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, will hear arguments in New Orleans on Friday.

There are “two rights” that every child shares when they arrive in this world, Katy Faust wrote in her brief. “First, the right to live. Second, the right to have a relationship with his/her father and mother.”

Dawn Stefanowicz said her gay father was so preoccupied with sex that when she was in high school and brought home a male classmate, both her father and his lover propositioned him for sex.

B.N. Klein said her mother and lesbian partner disdained heterosexual families completely, and she didn’t have a clue about the daily interactions of a husband and wife until she went into foster care.

Robert Oscar Lopez said his two lesbian mothers were conscientious about his upbringing, but he became so emotionally confused that he turned to gay prostitution as a teen and gay and bisexual relationships as an adult. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Jeb Bush Launches ‘Right to Rise’ PAC

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By Rebecca Berg. Gov. Jeb Bush on Tuesday will take another big step toward potentially running for president, filing the paperwork for a political action committee.

Bush announced the new leadership PAC, called “Right to Rise,” with a video posted to social media in English and in Spanish. In the video, Bush said the PAC will “support candidates that believe in conservative principles to allow all Americans to rise up.”

A website for the fledgling PAC promoted a similar mission statement.

“We believe passionately that the Right to Rise — to move up the income ladder based on merit, hard work and earned success — is the central moral promise of American economic life,” the website reads. “We are optimists who believe that America’s opportunities have never been greater than they are right now. But we know America is falling short of its promise.”

The idea of the “right to rise” has its roots with Abraham Lincoln, who popularized the political idea of rising from rags to riches. He did not use that exact language, although lauded Lincoln scholar Gabor Boritt later did. (Read more about what Jeb Bush launches HERE)

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Jeb Bush: I will not join the fight against homosexual marriage, respect the tyranny of the federal courts

By Nia-Malika Henderson. With 69 words, likely White House contender Jeb Bush staked out a position on same-sex marriage that boils down to this: I’m not my brother; I’m more like the pope.

Whereas George W. Bush carried the evangelical flag on same-sex marriage, energizing a cross-cultural section of voters in key swing states, Jeb Bush has essentially waved the white flag while also nodding to his Catholic faith. . .

We live in a democracy, and regardless of our disagreements, we have to respect the rule of law. I hope that we can also show respect for the good people on all sides of the gay and lesbian marriage issue — including couples making lifetime commitments to each other who are seeking greater legal protections and those of us who believe marriage is a sacrament and want to safeguard religious liberty. – Jeb Bush

. . . Holding together those evangelicals, who see the march toward legalizing same-sex marriage as an affront to their faith and a culture war worthy of a might fight, will be much trickier for Bush. He has said, quite simply, he won’t join that fight.

This will put him at odds with, especially, Mike Huckabee, who has deep ties to evangelicals and has threatened to leave the GOP if party leaders bow to more a more centrist stance on same-sex marriage. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Florida Courthouses Stop All Weddings to Avoid Marrying Homosexuals

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Photo Credit: AFPSeveral counties in Florida have put the kibosh on performing any weddings as a sort of duck and dodge against serving gays — the logic being that clerks with religious objections to homosexual marriage aren’t breaking any laws if they don’t offer services to anyone.

Among the counties taking part in the quasi-protest: Duval, Clay and Baker, The Associated Press reported.

[Due to a federal judge’s twisted reading of the US Constitution,] Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage expires in the coming days, but rather than abide by the new cultural order, clerks — in conjunction with other county officials — have announced the discontinuance of courthouse wedding services for all, AP said.

“It was decided as a team, as an office, this would be what we do so that there wouldn’t be any discrimination,” Duval County Clerk of Courts Ronnie Fussell told The Florida Times-Union. “The easiest way is to not do them at all.”

He also said that marriage “is between a man and a woman” and that “personally, it would go against my beliefs to perform a ceremony that is other than that,” AP reported. (Read about the courthouses stop all weddings to avoid marrying homosexuals HERE)

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Why the Supreme Court Might Agree to Hear a Same-Sex Marriage Case After All

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Photo Credit: Jonathan Larson / Getty

Photo Credit: Jonathan Larson / Getty

Last month, the Supreme Court surprised the national news media by refusing to hear any of the seven same-sex marriage cases that had been pending.

Following that denial of review, the status of same-sex marriage appears to be based on an odd sort of federalism.

If you live in a region of the country governed by a federal appeals court that has found a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, you are free to enter into a same-sex marriage — even if your state recognizes only traditional marriage. For example, same-sex marriage is now legal in the areas governed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, which includes Virginia, North and South Carolina, Maryland and West Virginia.

Certainly, the court decisions finding a constitutional right to same-sex marriage are faulty. The Supreme Court’s 1972 summary decision in Baker v. Nelson is, formally at least, still good law.

That decision — which implicitly held that there is no federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage — was not overturned by last year’s Windsor v. United States decision.

Read more from this story HERE.

Arkansas, Mississippi Gay Marriage Bans Overturned

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gay_marriageArkansas and Mississippi became the latest two states Tuesday to have their gay marriage bans overturned by federal judges, but there are no rushes to the altar as both orders are on hold so the states can consider appeals.

Like several states, Arkansas and Mississippi had voter-approved constitutional amendments pass in 2004 that defined marriage between one man and one woman.

In Arkansas, U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker ruled in favor of two same-sex couples who had challenged the amendment. They argued the ban violated the U.S. Constitution and discriminated based on sexual orientation.

“The fact that Amendment 83 was adopted by referendum does not immunize it from federal constitutional scrutiny,” Baker wrote in her ruling.

Besides the amendment, Mississippi has a 1997 law that bans same-sex marriage.

Read more from this story HERE.

West Virginia to Remove Words ‘Husband’ and ‘Wife’ From All State Tax Forms

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Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com

Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com

In the wake of two federal court rulings striking down West Virginia’s marriage protection amendment, which had previously defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman, the state tax department has announced starting next year, it will remove the words “husband” and “wife” from all tax forms and informational materials, replacing them with the more gender-neutral “spouse.”

Until then, the agency says same-sex couples can use the current tax forms with the understanding that a married household may have two “husbands” or two “wives” under the new definition of marriage in the state.

According to a notice issued October 14, the tax department has revised its definitions of “spouse,” “husband,” and “wife” to include individuals who are “married” to a person of the same sex.

“The term ‘marriage’ includes marriage between individuals of the same sex, lawfully married under the law of any domestic or foreign jurisdiction having legal authority to sanction marriages,” the notice read. “Beginning with Tax Year 2014, West Virginia Personal Income Tax returns reflecting a married status that are filed by lawfully married individuals will be processed without regard to the gender or sexual orientation of the married partners.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Couple Look to Paul’s Example in Resisting Order to Perform Gay Marriages

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Photo Credit: Hitching PostPerform same-sex wedding ceremonies or pay tens of thousands of dollars in fines and spend months behind bars. That’s the choice their Idaho town gave one Christian couple who have made marriage ministry their life’s work.

Donald and Eyelyn Knapp, ordained ministers, are married to each other. Together, they have run Hitching Post Wedding Chapel in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, since Ronald Reagan’s last year as president.

“The Apostle Paul spent quite a bit of time in jail for his faith, so who am I to feel like I have any right to avoid the same thing?” Don Knapp says during the couple’s exclusive interview with The Daily Signal.

“We can’t go against the teachings of the Bible and break our ordination vows,” Evelyn “Lynn” Knapp adds.

The test of faith began for Don, 68, and Lynn, 66, after the courts overrode Idaho’s voter-approved constitutional amendment affirming marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Citing a “non-discrimination” ordinance, officials of Coeur d’Alene told the Knapps that they would be required to hold same-sex weddings at their chapel.

Read more from this story HERE.

‘Bonkers’: Constitutional Experts Reply to Obama’s Belief that the Constitution Protects Gay ‘Marriage’

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Photo Credit: Shutterstock.comAs one state after another sees their marriage protection laws fall to activist judges citing the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment as justification for redefining marriage, President Barack Obama has gone further than the Supreme Court, insisting there is a constitutional “right” to same-sex “marriage” in an interview with The New Yorker.

“Ultimately, I think the Equal Protection Clause does guarantee same-sex marriage in all 50 states,” Obama told the magazine. But he said he respects the Supreme Court for avoiding a final ruling on the issue, saying he sees their procrastination as a “strategic” move to allow public support for same-sex marriage to build before making a decision.

“[Y]ou know, courts have always been strategic,” Obama said. “There have been times where the stars were aligned and the Court, like a thunderbolt, issues a ruling like Brown v. Board of Education, but that’s pretty rare. And, given the direction of society, for the Court to have allowed the process to play out the way it has may make the shift less controversial and more lasting.”

He made a similar argument in a 2001 public radio interview, in which he endorsed judicial and executive activism.

But two constitutional scholars with the Ruth Institute Circle of Experts strongly disagree with the president’s assessment of the courts – and his assertion that the Constitution protects homosexual “marriage.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Local Government Orders Christian Ministers: Perform Same-Sex Weddings or Face Jail, Fines

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Photo Credit: ADF Media[Coeur d’Alene] City officials told Donald Knapp that he and his wife Evelyn, both ordained ministers who run Hitching Post Wedding Chapel, are required to perform such ceremonies or face months in jail and/or thousands of dollars in fines. The city claims its “non-discrimination” ordinance requires the Knapps to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies now that the courts have overridden Idaho’s voter-approved constitutional amendment that affirmed marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

“The government should not force ordained ministers to act contrary to their faith under threat of jail time and criminal fines,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “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. The city is on seriously flawed legal ground, and our lawsuit intends to ensure that this couple’s freedom to adhere to their own faith as pastors is protected just as the First Amendment intended.”

“The government exists to protect and respect our freedoms, not attack them,” Tedesco added. “The city cannot erase these fundamental freedoms and replace them with government coercion and intolerance.”

The Hitching Post Wedding Chapel is across the street from the Kootenai County Clerk’s office, which issues marriage licenses. The Knapps, both in their 60s and who themselves have been married for 47 years, began operating the wedding chapel in 1989 as a ministry. They perform religious wedding ceremonies, which include references to God, the invocation of God’s blessing on the union, brief remarks drawn from the Bible designed to encourage the couple and help them to have a successful marriage, and more. They also provide each couple they marry with a CD that includes two sermons about marriage, and they recommend numerous Christian books on the subject. The Knapps charge a small fee for their services.

Coeur d’Alene officials told the Knapps privately and also publicly stated that the couple would violate the city’s public accommodations statute once same-sex marriage became legal in Idaho if they declined to perform a same-sex ceremony at their chapel. On Friday, the Knapps respectfully declined such a ceremony and now face up to 180 days in jail and up to $1,000 in fines for each day they decline to perform that ceremony.

Read more from this story HERE.