In an ominous move against First Amendment rights, the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear the appeal by a Christian photographer who was charged with human rights violation for refusing to photograph a private “commitment ceremony” for two lesbians. In 2006, Elaine Photography was fined nearly $7000 by the New Mexico Human Rights Commission for refusing to photograph the ceremony. Owners Elaine and Jonathan Huguenin are Christians who believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. The Huguenins took the matter to court, but they have lost at every level. In August 2013, the New Mexico Supreme Court “ruled that Christian photographers cannot decline to participate in gay-marriage commitment ceremonies” (“New Mexico Court,” Breitbart, Aug, 22, 2013). The state’s highest judges went so far to say that forcing Christians to act contrary to their religious faith is the price of citizenship. Justice Richard Bosson said, “The Huguenins are free to ... pray to the God of their choice ... But there is a price, one that we all have to pay somewhere in our civic life.” Even though eight state attorneys general filed briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the Huguenins, the judges refused to hear the appeal, thus letting the lower court’s anti-First Amendment decision stand. Legal pundits say that it is probable that the Supreme Court will wait until a federal appeals court rules on this issue before taking it into consideration, but it is ominous that the judges had no interest in giving immediate relief to Christians who are being oppressed by homosexual activists and by a government bent on advancing a “new morality.” This will create a climate in which it will be nearly impossible for a Bible-believing Christian to own a business or hold a job, particularly in government and education, if he or she is not willing to accept the government’s view of morality. (Friday Church News Notes, April 11, 2014, www.wayoflife.org [email protected], 866-295-4143) Comments are closed.
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