Los-Angeles-Shooter Loc: Los Angeles

Future historians will likely be flummoxed by the moment we’re living in. In what amounts to less than a blink of an eye in the history of Western civilization, homosexuality has gone from a diagnosed mental disorder to something to be celebrated — or else. Indeed, the rush to mandatory celebration is so intense, refusal is now considered tantamount to a crime. And, in some rare instances, an actual crime if the right constable or bureaucrat concludes that you have uttered “hate speech.” -- Jonah Goldberg
For a free society to function, a wide range of speech and behavior has to be tolerated, but that doesn't mean everyone has to approve of it. So, for example, although I don't drink, I have many friends who do. While I think Justin Bieber's music is appalling, I don't think it should be illegal. While I would like to see abortion banned except in the case of rape, incest and danger to the life of the mother, I have friends who've admitted to me that they've had abortions.

Unfortunately, when it comes to gay marriage, we have people who seem to be unable to tell the difference between tolerance and approval. It's not enough that gay marriage is legal in 17 states. As a practical matter, that means every gay American in the country can get married if he or she wants to do so while those who don't want gay marriage also have the option to live in states where the practice isn't legal. Although some Americans would like gay marriage to be legal everywhere and others, like myself, would like it to be illegal everywhere, there's something to be said for leaving the matter to each state.

This is still not enough for many liberals who've insisted on going further and actually persecuting Christian businesses who oppose gay marriage. Christians who don't want to sanction gay marriage are being sued, prosecuted and driven out of business for doing nothing more than living up to their Christian beliefs, which are incompatible with condoning gay marriage. In Oregon, Sweet Cakes by Melissa faced fines from the state and eventually lost its business because the owners declined to bake a cake for a gay wedding. In Washington State, florist Barronelle Stutzman has been sued for refusing to provide flowers for a gay wedding. The Wildflower Inn in Vermont was sued for refusing to host a gay couple’s wedding reception. Christian photographer Elane Huguenin in New Mexico was told she wasn't allowed to decline to participate in a gay marriage commitment ceremony. In New Jersey a seaside retreat, which is a United Methodist Church Christian facility, was told it wasn’t allowed to refuse a civil union ceremony.

Whether you believe as I do that all of those businesses made the right choice when they refused to sanction gay marriage, you should at least believe that they have the right to make their own decisions. Here's why....

1) Businesses should generally have the right to refuse customers: Because of slavery, segregation, Jim Crow and the other abominations Democrats forced on America, we did choose as a nation to treat race differently than most other issues. So, we do not allow businesses to discriminate based on race -- and that's a good thing. However, businesses can and do turn away customers for almost every other reason imaginable. Shouldn't they be able to do that?

Shouldn't the Super Bowl be allowed to decline an advertisement from a porn website? Shouldn't the NAACP be able to turn away KKK members from a speech? Shouldn't a movie theater be allowed to tell people who insist on using cell phones in the theater that they're not welcome? Shouldn't Wal-Mart be allowed to refuse to carry NAMBLA literature in its stores? Shouldn't a nightclub be allowed to tell people wearing gang colors that they’re not welcome? Shouldn't the Democratic Party be allowed to decline ads on its website from the Republican Party? On a personal note, at my website Right Wing News I've declined advertisements from porn websites, a dating service for "sugar daddies," a dating service for people who are married, and even a t-shirt seller I considered to be homophobic.If the Westboro Baptist Church were to one day decide that they wanted to sell "God h*tes F***" t-shirts on my website, should I be forced to sell it ad space even though I consider its beliefs to be repugnant and incompatible with my faith? For every American with rudimentary common sense, these questions answer themselves.

2) It violates the First Amendment: Per the First Amendment, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Supporting gay marriage is incompatible with Christianity. Baking a cake for a gay marriage, renting out a building for it, taking the pictures, etc., etc. could very fairly be considered sanctioning the marriage. To force a Christian to do that violates the First Amendment. This entire column could consist of that one point and it should be sufficient, but let's do continue on.

3) It's a misguided attempt to legally force people to accept gay marriage: In a very real sense, the gay marriage fight isn't about gay marriage. Civil unions confer all the same rights as marriage and the biggest point of contention on civil unions has become that they're being used as a stepping stone to gay marriage. If that wasn't an issue, civil unions would have overwhelming support and then everybody would be happy, right? Wrong. Because again, gay marriage isn't really about that.

At its core, gay marriage is really about acceptance.

A lot of gay Americans have made the mistake of centering their whole existence on their sexual orientation and so they almost see it as an insult if everything "gay" isn't treated as wonderful and fantastic. Except it's not. Everything heterosexual certainly isn't wonderful and fantastic either; so how could everything homosexual be wonderful and fantastic? Do you think these Christian bakers would bake a cake for an orgy? Would the photographer shoot naked pictures of Miley Cyrus? Would a Christian church host an S&M convention? It's highly doubtful.

The Left loves to encourage gay Americans to define their life by their sexual orientation, which cruelly sets people up for disappointment. It's now common to hear liberals say things like, "Oh well, in 20 years everybody will approve of gay weddings." Of course, liberals were saying the same thing about abortion after Roe v. Wade and how did that work out? Oh...right.

The truth is nobody gets universal acceptance. There are people who don't like me because I'm a white, conservative, Christian, male Tea Partier. I know this because I get emails and Facebook messages from them telling me so almost every day. There are a lot of terrific human beings out there who are gay, but if they make the mistake of demanding universal acceptance of everything about their sexual orientation a condition of being content, they're likely to have long, unhappy lives.

4) It's anti-Christian: There's an intense dislike of Christianity on the Left and it's an order of magnitude more intense for gay liberals for obvious reasons. Although as Billy Graham has said, "God will not judge a Christian guilty for his or her involuntary feelings," Christianity doesn't condone homosexual behavior. Under the best of circumstances, few people want to hear that they're doing something immoral. It's even worse when people feel as if they're being judged for something they believe would be difficult or even impossible to change. So, some of the people who are put in that position love getting an opportunity to victimize a poor Christian baker or florist because it allows them to lash out at Christianity by proxy. Since these Christians are paying a big price for standing up for our faith, they deserve our support.

5) It's involuntary servitude: It's highly ironic that liberals have compared a baker choosing not to bake a cake for a gay wedding to slavery and Jim Crow laws. After all, the Christian businesses are the ones that are being forced into involuntary servitude for ungrateful, vicious masters. Ask yourself why anyone with good motives would want to FORCE an unwilling person to bake his or her wedding cake or take pictures at his or her wedding? What's next? Will people who don't respond to invitations to gay weddings be charged with a hate crime?

bettis1 Loc: Texas

:thumbup:

GHS58 Loc: Missouri, USA

Well said.

Photographer Jim Loc: Rio Vista, CA

After a first reading, I see two major flaws in the five reasons you put forward.

#4 (It's Anti-Christian - Christianity does not condone homosexual behavior) This is a half truth. There is no unified "Christian" viewpoint regarding homosexuality. Current views vary considerably across denominations. Some, admittedly take the position that homosexuality is a sin and it can not be supported by the church in any form (ex: Jehovah's Witnesses). Other denominations allow homosexuals as full members (Episcopal), some with limitations on receiving the sacraments. Some denominations allow homosexuals to be ordained (sometimes with restrictions on celibacy, sometimes not). Some, like the Unity Church, will allow homosexuals to marry in the church.
And some, such as The United Church of Christ have passed a church wide resolution in support of lifting any restriction on the legality of a marriage based on sexual preference. Other churches are widely split amongst their lay members and clergy and are involved in serious discussion as to the what their church's position should be.

There is no overall "Christian" belief concerning homosexuality at present. So while some Christians may feel that pro gay marriage views are an attack on their religious beliefs, other Christians would be equally justified in feeling that those calling for gay marriage bans are attempting to force a form of Christianity upon them that they do not agree with.



#2 (It violates the !st amendment's Establishment Clause) The Establishment Clause can only be violated if, in making its decision, a court were to site religious reasons (either for or against) as part of its ruling. The decision on legalized gay marriage can not be based in arguments that it is sinful, nor can it be made with considerations that it may offend some religious beliefs. As stated above, the Current "Christian" view is very pluralistic. Thus, to use any religious consideration would automatically mean taking the side of one denomination over another, and be in 1st amendment violation. The only way to avoid violating the Establishment Clause is to consider ALL religious positions as irrelevant.

Therefore, decisions about bans of gay marriage will need to be made considering other parts of the Constitution, primarily the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

"5 Reasons Christians Shouldn't be Forced to Support Gay Weddings"

Because the are bigoted idiots who pervert the word of God to fit their narrow minded world view. Oh, and before you think it, I do not "dislike Christians," I dislike what some Christians have become.

RixPix Loc: Miami, Florida

I believe your "idea" of what "Christian" means and the intent of the teachings of Jesus are wildly different. May God give you gay children and/or gay grandchildren.

bull drink water Loc: pontiac mi.

for the first 30 yrs of my life I had to deal with some form of segregation or disenfrangeshiment. finally on a national level we said enough is enough. so where does it end?
1 a jeweler refusing to sell wedding rings to same sex couples?
2 a florrest refuseing flowers to a same sex couple?
3 a hotel refusing the hunnymoon suite to a gay couple?
When my wife needed a tubal ligation, the hospital my doctor was hooked up with , refused on religious grounds.where would we have been if all the hospitols in a 200 mile range were the same?
people have used those B.S. augurements from the time the first slave or minority steped on our shores until the civil rights act. some are still doing it today.
as for the objection to punishment, where were you when mixed maggiages were forbidden on racial and religious grounds, in many states, and those who went up against them ended up in jail, out back beat all to hell, or shot?

bull drink water Loc: pontiac mi.

for the first 30 yrs of my life I had to deal with some form of segregation or disenfrangeshiment. finally on a national level we said enough is enough. so where does it end?
1 a jeweler refusing to sell wedding rings to same sex couples?
2 a florrest refuseing flowers to a same sex couple?
3 a hotel refusing the hunnymoon suite to a gay couple?
When my wife needed a tubal ligation, the hospital my doctor was hooked up with , refused on religious grounds.where would we have been if all the hospitols in a 200 mile range were the same?
people have used those B.S. augurements from the time the first slave or minority steped on our shores until the civil rights act. some are still doing it today.
as for the objection to punishment, where were you when mixed maggiages were forbidden on racial and religious grounds, in many states, and those who went up against them ended up in jail, out back beat all to hell, or shot?

SpeedyWilson Loc: Upstate South Carolina

Who wrote the original post? Is there a link to its source?

Skellum0

How very un-Christian of you. May God forgive you.

Skellum0

Not all Christians, but there is a proportion who fit your stereotype and unfortunately they make a disproportionate amount of noise.

karlw Loc: Enfield Connecticut

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

dave.speeking Loc: Brooklyn OH

Aside from one's personal feelings, how does gay anything directly effect another persons life?

I have yet to see where being gay has interfered in the rights of anyone.

But many would interfere with the rights of gays.

karlw Loc: Enfield Connecticut

Why is it that people are such Homophobes? Are they worried that They may turn gay? What if a "Christian" family had a Gay child would they be banded from the family? Would the family if they loved there child be shunned from the community? What if your brother or sister had a gay child would you disown your own blood? I think people use the belief in "god" for there own agenda. People kill in the Name of "god". People discriminate in the Name of "god". I just think that people hate and then use the work "god" to justify there actions.

Psdunner

As much as I abhor your politics, religion and values I will give an objective answer. If one has a public business that enjoys the benefits of the government such as licensing,possibly loans, tax benefits, health inspection etc you are then obliged to serve the entire public in a non discriminatory fashion. A physician may not pick and choose his patients. If one doesn't wish to serve a segment of the population they are not entitled to be called a public business but should operate privately out of the confines of their home in a non-business capacity-say, baking cakes for a hobby for friends for no remuneration or income.

The reality is that people of some conscience and morals would not wish to patronize a business that spouts hate and discrimination. The owner of Chik Filet has a right to express his opinion but they will continue to serve anyone. People however have the right to vote with their feet and not spend money at that business if they choose not to do so.

As to choices of dress at certain venues, a person who enters a club in gang gear is potentially a threat to those around them and the club, in the interest of public safety, can ask them to alter their dress but cannot discriminate against them because of their known affiliation.

As to going from a mental disorder to accepted, that is what society calls progress of knowledge, science and research. Once leeches and bleeding were accepted medical treatments. One of the reasons I abhor the Christian Right is for their continuous resistance to science and knowledge based on factless, proof-less and non-scientific beliefs masquerading as faith. I don't get into long polemics because the phrase "I believe" immediately puts an end to any cogent and intelligent discussion. This goes for any religion whatsoever.

Do I give the religious the right to their beliefs? Only up to the point when they try to ram it down the throat of those around them in the thinly veiled guise of freedom of religion. Keep it inside your buildings and homes if you wish but don't spill it over into schools, medicine, health care plans, public businesses etc. in the guise of having your rights you are depriving me and others of theirs.

Once you go public, the rules of the game change. BTW, if I am a baker, can I refuse to make a cake for you because I am not Christian or because I am an atheist?

And now to an important question, what camera do you use and what sort of photography do you do?