Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Law to Force Church to Allow Same-sex Ceremony

"Whenever a right is granted to same-sex unions, then a right is taken from religious liberty and freedom of speech. Same-sex unions pose a serious threat to freedom of conscience and free exercise of religion."

-- From "Lesbians in fight with Christian church" © 2008 WorldNetDaily 12/30/08

A church organization has been caught up in a discrimination case brought by two lesbians who were denied permission to rent the Christian group's facilities for a "ceremony" after the meaning of "equal" was changed by the state, according to a warning from Liberty Counsel.

The situation involves the United Methodist Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, which has been accused by the government in New Jersey of discriminating against a self-described lesbian duo, Luisa Paster and Harriet Bernstein, who were denied permission to rent a church pavilion.

"The clash between same-sex unions and religious freedom has arrived, and that clash will increase," said Mathew Staver, chief of Liberty Counsel. "We've seen a pastor arrested in Sweden for preaching that homosexuality is contrary to biblical principles. When the alarm was sounded, some thought it was all hype. But when a church has to sacrifice its religious convictions in order to invite the public to use its facilities, the threat to liberty is not hype.

The church group had rejected the request because same-sex civil unions conflict with the doctrines of the United Methodist Church.

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