MPs Vote To Protect Marriage Beliefs

MPs have voted 86-31 in favour of a proposal to protect people’s beliefs about marriage.
The vote, which is not binding, came at the end of a debate led by Edward Leigh MP who wants changes to be made to the Equality Act 2010.

It was inspired by the case of Adrian Smith, a housing manager who was demoted for saying privately that gay weddings in churches would be “an equality too far.”

Beliefs

Mr Leigh also referred to the recent European Court of Human Rights decision against a Christian registrar who was pushed out her job because of her beliefs about marriage.

He said the ruling means “an employee who is ordered to go against their conscience on marriage has few, if any, legal rights to protect them; that is why we need an amendment to the Equality Act”.

Mr Leigh said this problem will become “much worse” if the Government redefines marriage.

Conscientious

He said the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, “as presently drafted, does nothing to protect ordinary people’s conscientious views.”

He called for the legislation to undergo the proper scrutiny of the whole House of Commons, rather than being “fast-tracked.”

Though the Bill is unlikely to become law, the vote shows that MPs believe more needs to be done to protect those who support traditional marriage.

Chalke Another Sin Out Of Scripture, Steve!

Having gained notoriety in 2004 on account of his denial of a doctrine that lies at the heart of Christian theology - the penal substitution of our Lord Jesus Christ (he described this truth as God the Father engaging in "cosmic child abuse" when He sent His Son to the cross for us) - Steve Chalke is playing fast and loose with Scripture again.

On this occasion his assault is on the biblical teaching on the subject of homosexuality.

As a regular contributor to the magazine 'Christianity,' his latest submission argues that we must step outside of the boundaries of Scripture and declassify homosexuality as a sin.

His article can be sourced here:

http://www.christianitymagazine.co.uk/sexuality/stevechalke.aspx

As may a contrary view, published alongside Chalke's poorly reasoned and biblically redundant piece:

http://www.christianitymagazine.co.uk/sexuality/gregdownes.aspx

An excellent – and important – discussion of the Scripture passages that treat homosexuality is found here:

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2013/01/29/pro-gay-theology

The Cost of Having Biblical Convictions

The Baltimore Sun (Maryland) has reported how an Annapolic company whose old-fashioned trolleys are iconic in the city's wedding scene has felt compelled to abandon the nuptial industry rather than serve same-sex couples.

The owner of Discover Annapolis Tours said he decided to walk away from $50,000 in annual revenue instead of compromising his Christian convictions when same-sex marriages become legal in Maryland at the turn of the year. And he has urged prospective clients to lobby state lawmakers for a religious exemption for wedding vendors.

Wedding vendors elsewhere who refused to accommodate same-sex couples have faced discrimination lawsuits — and lost. Legal experts said Discover Annapolis Tours sidesteps legal trouble by avoiding all weddings.

The trolley company's decision, publicized by a straight groom offended by what he called "repressive bigotry," offers a snapshot of a local business navigating a new landscape in Maryland's wedding industry, and leaving it behind for a competitor to swoop in.

The head of the Maryland Wedding Professionals Association said the trolley company is the second vendor to refuse business over the state's same-sex marriage law, which voters upheld in November. 

The Maryland clergyman who led opposition to same-sex marriage called the trolley company's choice to abandon profits on principle "gutsy" and predicted that more businesses would quietly follow suit.

"That's a bold and noble statement," said Derek McCoy, executive director of the Maryland Marriage Alliance. "The other option would have been just to become a legal case."

Frank Schubert, the political strategist who ran campaigns against same-sex marriage in Maryland and three other states this year, said opponents predicted collateral damage from legalizing same-sex unions.

"This is exactly what happens," Schubert said, adding that religious liberty is "right in the cross hairs of this debate. … The law doesn't protect people of faith. It simply doesn't."

Schubert pointed to a handful of other examples publicised in news reports across the country of wedding vendors sued for refusing to accommodate a same-sex ceremony: a pair of Vermont innkeepers, a New Jersey church group and a New Mexico wedding photographer.

A Christian conservative group financed an appeal in the case in New Mexico — where same-sex marriages are not recognised but, as in Maryland, "public accommodation" laws prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.  A lesbian couple tried to hire the photographer for their commitment ceremony, but the photographer's attorneys argued that artists have a constitutional right to refuse to endorse a message they do not support, according to the Religion News Service.  Two New Mexico courts have sided with the lesbian couple who sued, and the state's highest court agreed to hear the case.

In Maryland, the homosexual-rights group Equality Maryland said the trolley company's decision appears to be an isolated case of a business owner exercising his rights.

"As long as he doesn't discriminate against other people, he's free to do what ever he wants to do, including withdrawing his business from the industry," executive director Carrie Evans said.

Discover Annapolis Tours owner Matt Grubbs declined repeated requests to discuss the move, beyond acknowledging its economic impact to his business, which also operates historic tours endorsed by the Annapolis & Anne Arundel County Conference & Visitors Bureau.

Grubbs said he expects to post a full explanation on his company's website by Jan. 1, and confirmed he sent an email to prospective client Chris Belkot last month that said "we used to do weddings until recently. But we're a Christian-owned business, and we are not able to lend support to gay marriages. And as a public accommodation, we cannot discriminate between gay or straight couples, so we had to stop doing all wedding transportation."

Grubbs' message went on to suggest Maryland residents contact their lawmakers to "request they amend the new marriage law to allow an exemption for religious conviction for the layperson in the pew. The law exempts my minister from doing same-sex weddings, and the Knights of Columbus don't have to rent out their hall for a gay wedding reception, but somehow my religious convictions don't count for anything."

Chick-Fil-A president Dan Carthy's public statements against same-sex marriage brought both backlash and huge crowds this year as patronizing or boycotting the fast-food chain became a political statement.

Gosnell, who said he has not met Grubbs, added that the trolley company's decision on same-sex weddings does not necessarily reveal Grubbs' feelings about gay people or transporting them to other events.

"It could be that it's not so much that he's against people, so much as he's against a policy or law that has been put in place," Gosnell said. "That is not abnormal for any business owner to take a position about any law that affects them."

Legal experts said the state law forbidding discrimination against sexual orientation has been on the books since 2001. Back then, the General Assembly added sexual orientation to the list of protected classes that already included race, gender, disability and marital status. Business owners can no more refuse a trolley for a same-sex wedding than they can refuse to serve an African-American at a lunch counter.

Grubbs' trolleys, with their interior lighting and quaint feel, had nearly become a staple in Annapolis' wedding scene, wedding planners and photographers said.

"You will see trolleys every Saturday in Annapolis, and most of them will have a bride," said Mike Busada, owner of Mike B Photography. "Fifty percent of the weddings I do in Annapolis have a trolley. … Someone else will come in and fill that niche. There's definitely a demand for it."