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Showing posts with the label Wedding

Catholic couple fined $13,000 for refusing to host same-sex ‘wedding’ at their farm

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The New York State Division of Human Rights (DHR) has ruled that the Roman Catholic owners of an Albany-area farm violated the civil rights of a lesbian couple when they declined to host the couple’s same-sex “marriage” ceremony in 2012. Robert and Cynthia Gifford, who own and operate Liberty Ridge Farm in Schaghticoke, were ordered by DHR Judge Migdalia Pares and Commissioner Helen Diane Foster to pay $10,000 in fines to the state and an additional $3,000 in damages to the lesbian couple, Jennie McCarthy and Melissa Erwin for “mental pain and suffering.”  Additionally, the Giffords must provide sensitivity training to their staff, and prominently display a  poster  highlighting state anti-discrimination laws. Robert and Cynthia Gifford The Giffords’ attorney, Jim Trainor, told LifeSiteNews that the two-year-legal drama and resulting fines all stemmed from a single brief phone call in 2012 that caught his clients off guard. “The entire interaction between ...

Should Christian business people decline serving homosexual marriages?

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English: The Supreme Court of the United States. Washington, D.C. Français : La Cour suprême des États-Unis. Washington D.C., États-Unis. ‪Norsk (bokmål)‬: Høyesterett i USA. Washington, D.C. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Some Christians have quickly distanced themselves from these laws ( Andy Stanley , Jonathan Merritt, Kirstin Powers ), while the media has shown that, as a general rule, it lacks even a rudimentary understanding of what is at stake here. The net result is that anyone who doesn’t have a firm grasp on the Bible’s teaching about this issue is being swept up in the tide of public opinion. So swift is the tide that even the senators who voted for the law in Arizona a few weeks ago are now publically renouncing their “yes” vote and asking the governor to veto it. There are really three practical questions for Christians to wrestle through here: 1. Should Christians in any business decline to serve homosexual customers? The answer is obviously “no,” and even more tell...

Homosexual forcing Christians

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Plodding through the news this week has been an attempt in both Arizona and Kansas to pass laws that specifically protect business owners from being forced to sell their services to celebrate gay “marriage” ceremonies. Some Christians have quickly distanced themselves from these laws ( Andy Stanley , Jonathan Merritt, Kristin Powers ), while the media has shown that, as a general rule, it lacks even a rudimentary understanding of what is at stake here. The net result is that anyone who doesn’t have a firm grasp on the Bible’s teaching about this issue is being swept up in the tide of public opinion. So swift is the tide that even the senators who voted for the law in Arizona a few weeks ago are now publically renouncing their “yes” vote and asking the governor to veto it. There are really three practical questions for Christians to wrestle through here: 1. Should Christians in any business decline to serve homosexual customers? The answer is obviously “no,” and even more telling i...

Ontario Christian minister forced to conduct same-sex ‘marriages’ or get sacked

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CAMBRIDGE, Ontario, September 11, 2012 ( LifeSiteNews.com ) - A Church of Christ minister who has been responsible for civic marriage ceremonies at Cambridge city hall for the past 15 years is facing the axe if she doesn’t agree to perform same-sex “ marriages .” Rev. Jay Brown Rev. Jay Brown told LifeSiteNews that city council voted 8 to 1 Monday night on a motion, brought forward by Councillor Donna Reid, that Brown be forced to officiate at homosexual “marriages” or they would issue a “ request for proposal ” to find a replacement. Rev. Brown explained that as a minister of the Church of  Christ she must follow the precepts of her church, which does not allow homosexual “marriage,” but that she was always ready to accommodate same-sex couples by recommending a designated minister who would be happy to perform the ceremony. “I have nothing against gay people , in fact a member of my family is gay,” Brown said in an interview with LifeSiteNews, “but I represent my ...

Activist lesbian judge refuses to marry heterosexual couples

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DALLAS, February 28, 2012 ( LifeSiteNews.com ) - A lesbian judge in Texas says she will not perform wedding ceremonies for heterosexuals until the state allows homosexuals to “ marry ” as well. Dallas County Judge Tonya Parker told the Stonewall Democrats of Dallas at a meeting last Tuesday that it would be “oxymoronic” for her to perform wedding ceremonies that can’t be performed for her. Judge Tonya Parker She said that when couples appear in her courtroom, she directs them to another judge, but not before using the opportunity to “give them a lesson about marriage equality .” “I usually will offer them something along the lines of, ‘I’m sorry. I don’t perform marriage ceremonies because we are in a state that does not have marriage equality, and until it does, I am not going to partially apply the law to one group of people that doesn’t apply to another group of people,’” she said. After her speech received national attention, she elaborated on the legal ramifications of he...

Denmark set to introduce same-sex ‘marriage’ legislation

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Image via Wikipedia COPENHAGEN, October 28, 2011 - The Danish government is set to introduce a bill in early 2012 that will allow same-sex couples to hold weddings in the national state Church of Denmark and be “married” under Danish law , according to a  Copenhagen Post report . Denmark was the first country in the world to legalize homosexual civil partnerships in 1989. This legislation gave same-sex couples all the legal rights of a married man and woman, but stopped short of allowing same-sex “marriage” and church weddings. “The first same-sex weddings will hopefully become reality in Spring 2012,” said Minister for Gender Equality and Ecclesiastical Affairs Manu Sareen, a Social Liberal, to the local Jyllands-Posten newspaper, according to the Post. “I look forward to the moment the first homosexual couple steps out of the church. I’ll be standing out there throwing rice .” If the legislation passes Denmark will become the eighth European country to give homosexuals the ...