| I
have said it before. The time may come when a gay
couple will insist on membership in CFC, and if refused,
will take us to court, and will win! What then? We
will have to be prepared to suffer the consequences
-- fines, jail terms, a ban on our existence. Then,
in this modern day in the First World, the situation
of the first Christians will happen again. Christians
will be jailed, will have their property confiscated,
will not be allowed to exist. Then CFC-FFL will have
to go underground, amidst the persecution.
A
far-fetched scenario, you say? Well, that is where
this crazy world is going. It was not too long ago
when same-sex marriage was far-fetched. Now common
sense has gone out the window. In the name of human
rights, of anti-discrimination, of equality, personal
beliefs and one's faith are routinely being violated.
Let
us prepare by understanding the call to discipleship
-- to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow
Jesus. Let us grow in holiness. And let us grow in
greater passion to proclaim Christ and the good news
of salvation in him. Then perhaps we will be ready
to give up our very lives for him.
God
bless.
frank
New
Jersey Rules against Christian Group that Declined to
Host Lesbian Civil Union Ceremony
By Kathleen Gilbert
MOUNT LAUREL, New
Jersey, January 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A New
Jersey Christian group has lost a case against a lesbian
couple who brought the group to court for refusing
to rent out their oceanfront grounds to the pair for
a civil union ceremony.
The New Jersey Division
on Civil Rights on Monday ruled that the Methodist
Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association had violated
the public accommodation provisions of state anti-discrimination
laws. A remedy has not yet been settled.
"What this case
has always been about from my clients' perspective
has been equality," said Larry Lustberg, the
couple's attorney. Lustberg indicated the couple would
pursue an order mandating that the Christian group
be "open to all on an equal basis."
The couple, Harriet
Bernstein and Luisa Paster of Ocean Grove, sued the
group after they refused to rent them their square-mile
property in March of 2007. Another lesbian couple
also sued the very next month to use the grounds,
but lost their case as the group had already put a
halt to leasing the property for any wedding ceremony.
The director of the
state's Division on Civil Rights and the official
who wrote Monday's ruling, Frank Vespa-Papaleo, recommended
last month that New Jersey become the third U.S. state
to introduce same-sex "marriage" into law.
Brian Raum, a lawyer
for the Alliance Defense Fund who fought on behalf
of the Methodist group, said they would continue to
fight for their first amendment rights. "Our
position is the same," said Raum. "A Christian
organization has a constitutional right to use their
facilities in a way that is consistent with their
beliefs."
See related LifeSiteNews.com
coverage:
Methodist Camp Meeting
Association Sues New Jersey for Civil Union Investigation
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/aug/07081501.html
Lesbian Couple Files
Complaint against Church for Refusing Civil Union
Ceremony
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jul/07071011.html
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