SERMON FIGHT IN U.S. CITY: 'SEND THE WITCH A BIBLE'
Tensions mount over lesbian mayor's attack on religious freedom
Subscribe to feed
- Text smaller
- Text bigger
The fight over the subpoenas from the Houston mayor’s office for sermons by five area pastors in a fight over promoting transgenderism has reached new levels, with one commenter on a website that’s promoting citizen action on the issue stating, ” Just send the witch a Bible. That would cover the outline of the sermons and maybe lead to the salvation of the lost.”
That comment was from John Hays on the website for the Alliance Defending Freedom, which has taken up the pastors’ cause and is asking a court to quash the demands for the sermons.
Website Social Content Editor Emily Conley wrote about the dispute – that the city passed a law that “would allow members of the opposite sex to use each other’s restrooms, in the name of ‘prohibiting discrimination,” known as HERO (Houston Equal Rights Ordinance). Voters weren’t so thrilled, and respond[ed] by petitioning to repeal the ordinance or at least, put it up for a vote. They got over 50,000 signatures, more than three times the required number The city secretary … certified them as sufficient. But the mayor and city attorney defied the law, claimed less than the required number of signatures was valid – and threw out the petition.”
A lawsuit over that apparent defiance of the law followed, and the city responded with a legal demand to obtain copies of sermons of pastors who were not even part of the lawsuit.
It was on that blog where members of the public were encouraged to participate in social media efforts to “let the city of Houston know that this is a problem.”
City officials at first doubled down on their efforts, with lesbian Mayor Annise Parker, who has said the issue is all about her own lifestyle choice, stating, “If the 5 pastors used pulpits for politics, their sermons are fair game.”
But the Washington Times reported city officials then issued a statement they would try to “narrow the scope” of their demands, a move that Joe La Rue, ADF legal counsel, said was “wholly inadequate.”
“These sermons, emails and texts have nothing to do with whether the coalition gathered enough signatures to qualify for the ballot ,” he told the newspaper.
Christiana Holcom, ADF litigation counsel, pooh-poohed the idea that the city had in any way backed off the demands.
“The shame that the city of Houston has brought upon itself is real, but the claim that it has changed course is not. The city has so far taken no concrete action to withdraw the subpoenas. Furthermore, the subpoenas themselves are the problem – not just their request for pastors’ sermons,” she said.
“The city is not off the hook from its illegitimate request for emails, text messages, and other communications in which these pastors, who are not even party to this lawsuit, may have disagreed with the mayor. The way to fix this is to withdraw the subpoenas entirely. Otherwise, the city’s and the mayor’s overtures are simply more window-dressing intended to shield them from public scrutiny.”
The comments ranged from the purely spiritual, “Satan we rebuke you in the name of Jesus were (sic) not scared by your devilish attach (sic) on the BODY OF CHRIST!” from Tonya, to the logical, as Phil Hsueh wrote, “It’s about free speech and the 1st Amendment right to practice it. A sermon, like pretty much any other speech, is considered protected speech and the mayor has no more right to subpoena them than she does a speech[es] given at the local Rotary club.”
Holcomb said, “The city council and its attorneys are engaging in an inquisition designed to stifle any critique of its actions .”
Fox News commentator Todd Starnes, wrote, “We can no longer remain silent. We must stand together – because one day – the government might come for your pastor.”
Other commentators agreed.
“Furious with local pastors for leading the pushback [to the bathroom bill], Parker decided to get her revenge by ordering a Soviet-style crackdown on area churches,” an online statement said.
“In a story that’s spreading like wildfire, the mayor had the nerve to subpoena pastors for their sermons, text messages, photographs, electronic files, calendars, and emails – ‘all communications with members of your congregation’ on topics like homosexuality and gender identity.
“If she thought her religious ‘inquisition’ would scare pastors, she’s got another thin[k] coming. Local Christians are more outraged than ever, igniting a firestorm that could awaken a sleeping giant in churches from coast to coast,” the statement said.
Sen. Rand Paul joined in, “No minister, anywhere, should ever have to submit a sermon to a government censor.”
At the Sons of Liberty, it was reported, “What’s even more interesting is that apparently Mayor Parker pulled a Barack Obama when it came to the subpoena of the pastor’s communications and sermons. According to Attorney [David] Feldman, Parker had nothing to do with the subpoenas and that she was never informed. However, when Starnes pressed him on when she became informed, Feldman said, ‘When you guys broke the story.’ Doesn’t that sound just like Barack Obama’s statement, ‘I learned about it in the news’?”
As WND reported first on Monday, the subpoenas came in the city’s legal defense of a “non-discrimination” measure that allows “gender-confused” people to use public restrooms designated for the opposite sex.
“Religious liberty is the very first protection in the Bill of Rights, the foundation of all our liberties,” said Sen. Ted Cruz said. “The city of Houston’s subpoenas demanding that pastors provide the government with copies of their sermons is both shocking and shameful.”
The subpoenas were issued to five pastors after opponents of the ordinance filed a lawsuit. The pastors were part of a coalition of Houston-area churches that opposed the law, but they were not part of the lawsuit.
Representing the pastors, the Alliance Defending Freedom filed a motion to quash the city’s demands to see the sermons, arguing the pastors are not party to the suit.
Enabling sexual predators
The lawsuit challenging Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance alleges the city violated its own charter in its adoption of the law, which in May designated homosexuals and transgender persons as a protected class.
Critics say the measure effectively enables sexual predators who dress as women to enter female public bathrooms, locker rooms and shower facilities. A coalition of activists that includes area pastors filed suit Aug. 6 against the city and Parker after officials announced a voter petition to repeal the measure didn’t have enough signatures to qualify for the election ballot.
According to a deposition from Houston city Secretary Anna Russell, her office had counted 19,177 signatures in the petition to repeal the measure and then stopped, because the qualifying number of 17,269 signatures already had been reached, with a margin.
The pastors’ coalition explained, “Her position is that it would be a waste of resources to continue to count when we clearly and easily had met the city charter standard.”
However, the deposition revealed that the mayor and the city attorney, David Feldman, then simply overturned the result.
Russell said she was told to add the following statement to her count: “According to the city attorney’s office and reviewed by the city secretary the analysis of the city attorney’s office, 2,750 pages containing 16,010 signatures do not contain sufficient acknowledgment as required by the charter. Therefore, according to the city attorney’s office only 2,449 pages containing 15,249 signatures can lawfully be considered toward the signatures required.”
The lawsuit was filed shortly later.
‘Big Brother overlords’
The city’s subpoena of the pastors, ADF contends, doesn’t meet the requirements of state law that requires such efforts “be reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence, not be overly broad, seek only information that is not privileged and relevant to the subject matter of the litigation, and not cause undue burden or harassment.”
ADF said city officials are upset about the voter lawsuit and is “illegitimately demanding that the pastors, who are not party to the lawsuit, turn over their constitutionally protected sermons and other communications simply so the city can see if the pastors have ever opposed or criticized the city.”
“City council members are supposed to be public servants, not ‘Big Brother’ overlords who will tolerate no dissent or challenge,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley. “In this case, they have embarked upon a witch hunt, and we are asking the court to put a stop to it.”
ADF Litigation Counsel Christiana Holcomb said the city’s subpoena of sermons and other pastoral communications is needless and unprecedented.
“The city council and its attorneys are engaging in an inquisition designed to stifle any critique of its actions. Political and social commentary is not a crime; it is protected by the First Amendment,” she said.
‘Don’t get her one letter of the alphabet’
Among the many comments on the ADF site:
From Seabird, “This mayor is pure evil. To take a powerful stand by reading straight from the Bible of God’s laws and on sin … that is not political hate speech.”
From Ron, “I used to live and let live. But not any more. Not after the attacks on Chick Fil-A, Mozilla, Duck Dynasty, bakeries, photographers and even the pastors in our very own churches.”
From Mal, “Pastors, don’t get her one letter of the alphabet from your sermons.”
From Millie, “Who does she think she is? Who died and made her queen? … If she thinks she can silence God from speaking to His people, she is gravely mistaken. … We love the homosexual but hate the act.”
From John: “Enough is enough. How long will we sit back and take this kind of abuse and attacks against o[u]r faith and Christianity.”
And from CLCopeland, ” Houston … Have you lost your absolute minds. Y’all definitely have a problem.”
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/10/just-send-the-witch-a-bible/#cqZzYwjFbE5XZwZ8.99
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for commenting. Your comments are needed for helping to improve the discussion.