Tag: court
Will Legalizing Gay “Marriage” End the Culture Wars? Don’t Be Silly
Posted on September 4, 2014 in Marriage, Public Policy by Nathan Cherry
No, no, no, no, no. Hoping the Supreme Court legalizes same-sex “marriage” in all fifty states is not a good idea. Yes, the issue is undoubtedly headed back to the high court and, yes, the court will be forced to rule whether or not individual states have the right to define marriage for themselves. But, to want the Supreme Court to decide for us all what the definition of marriage should be is an absurd proposition.
I get it, the writer of this article saying that such a decision by the high court would be a great thing for the Republican Party is thinking along secular political lines. His end game is a strengthened GOP that doesn’t have to deal with an unpopular cultural issue. Nonetheless, not only do I think it is a political strategy nightmare, I think it’s a moral disaster of epic proportions.
The writer starts off his support for a Supreme Court decision by saying: “Like it or not, opponents of gay marriage are losing the battle…A substantial majority of voters now support it, 59 percent in the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll.”
Shock! State Marriage Amendment Stands Against Court Challenge
Posted on August 27, 2014 in Marriage, Public Policy by Nathan Cherry
Imagine my shock when I read that a state’s marriage amendment defining marriage as the union of one woman and one man was upheld in a federal court.
It’s not that I think such amendments aren’t Constitutional, quite the opposite. In fact I believe that each state has the sovereign right to decide for itself what the definition of marriage will be. I believe the federal government should stay out of the debate between states and refuse to interfere in the decision each state will make. I believe the people of each state – not a court or a single judge – should make the decision.
So my shock has nothing to do with the constitutionality of such amendments. Instead, my shock is that a federal court would actually uphold the will of the people rather than trample all over it as so many have already done.
A post at ScotusBlog reports:
West Virginia May Have Marriage Redefined Thanks to Court Ruling (UPDATE)
Posted on August 8, 2014 in Marriage by Nathan Cherry
Federal judges have been redefining marriage in conservative states at an alarming rate. I’ve been watching the dominos fall and keeping up as court after court strikes down voter approved marriage protection amendments. (Click here for my first post on the subject, or click here for my previous update.)
The first post centered around 13 states – conservative states – where marriage was being threatened by judicial activism. Since that first post, much has changed. Of those original 13 states where marriage was being threatened, all of them have had their marriage protection amendments struck down. Two others, Georgia and Wisconsin have been added to the list.
This means that 15 conservative states where marriage laws protected natural, one man one woman marriage by a vote of the people have now had those laws wiped out by a single judge, or a panel of judges. That fact should trouble every freedom loving American that believes our Constitution stands as a barrier to such radical activism.
What does this mean for West Virginia?
Parkersburg South Wrestling Team Intimidated for Expressing Religious Freedom
Posted on April 21, 2014 in Religious Freedom by Nathan Cherry
A controversy over wrestling shirts is brewing in Wood County, West Virginia, at Parkersburg South High School. Thanks to the dubious Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) lodging a complaint with the school Superintendent the wrestling team has been asked to stop wearing their shirts which display the Bible verse Philippians 4:13:
“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation makes a practice of sending threatening letters to anyone expressing their religious freedom in the public sector. The group seeks to use bullying and scare tactics to intimidate silence on the part of Christians seeking to live out their faith.
“Government Every Citizen Should Fear” Supreme Court Ruling Strikes Blow to Religious Freedom
Posted on April 14, 2014 in Public Policy, Religious Freedom by Nathan Cherry
Christians now have every reason to fear their government.
That is the general sentiment after the Supreme Court refused to hear the case of Elane Photography after the disastrous ruling by the New Mexico Supreme Court. Here’s what you need to know and where the case currently stands.
Elaine Huguenin refused to render services to a homosexual couple that asked her to photograph their same-sex ceremony. She cited her religious convictions and said she simply could not in accordance with her faith photograph their ceremony. The couple sued Elane Photography for discrimination based on sexual orientation. After years in the court system the New Mexico Supreme Court finally ruled against Elane Photography for discrimination and fined her.
New York City Says Churches Can’t Use Public Schools
Posted on April 11, 2014 in Religious Freedom by Nathan Cherry
The case of the Bronx Household of Faith is a storied one that has spanned decades. It began when the New York City Board of Education changed a city policy forbidding churches to rent public schools for church services. Other organizations may rent public schools, only churches were barred from using them. The Bronx Household of Faith sued the city for unfairly targeting the free exercise of religion.
In 2012 a lower court granted a full injunction which barred the city policy from taking effect, this allowed the churches to continue meeting in schools pending the ruling by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. The 2nd Circuit reversed the lower court ruling last week and allowed the city policy to take effect. Without intervention by the full 2nd Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court churches in New York City will now be homeless.
The good news is that newly elected mayor Bill de Blasio has said he supports allowing churches to meet in schools like everyone else. In fact he made such statements more than once during his campaign. After the ruling Mayor de Blasio was quoted as saying:
Daily Roundup: Texas Marriage Amendment Struck Down by Federal Judge
Posted on March 1, 2014 in Marriage, Public Policy by Nathan Cherry
In yet another shocking display of judicial activism, a judge has ignored 76 percent of the state’s voters and struck down a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Following a disturbing trend of judicial and attorney general decisions the federal judge, Orlando Garcia said the voter approved law has no standing in the lone-star state.
This trend of lawless behavior is not surprising when you have a president that does the same thing. Once President Obama decided he would not defend the laws of the United States and instructed his Department of Defense to ignore national law, it was only a matter of time before others did the same thing. Now, as a result of his reckless example we have attorney’s general taking the law into their own hands and making decisions outside their legal purview. As well we have judges ignoring the will of the people and striking laws that they don’t like, much like the Obama administration has done.
America truly is in a state of alarm as lawlessness and immorality are running rampant in an attempt to overwhelm the nation. If good people continue to ignore what is happening we can reasonably expect to lose many of our cherished freedoms in the coming years. Consider this your daily roundup of articles on the situation in Texas:
Without Morality Based Laws Sexual “Rights” Become Foundation of Society
Posted on February 13, 2014 in Marriage, Public Policy, Sexuality by Nathan Cherry
If morality is not absolute, based on something higher than society, culture, or opinion, it is only reasonable to assume that at some point laws will be based purely on the views of the people making the laws. The end result will be a shift in laws toward greater immorality rather than a shift towards morality. We can expect, then, not a redefinition of marriage, but a complete eradication of marriage altogether. As long as marriage exists, even in the minds and hearts of individuals, the perceived bigotry and discrimination the government likes to imagine will continue. The solution, then, according to the government and marriage redefinition allies, is to erase any meaning associated with marriage and family.
ObamaCare HHS Mandate Destroyed in Court
Posted on January 7, 2014 in Life, Public Policy by Nathan Cherry
The Obama administration continues to trump its HHS mandate which forces all people and employers to provide and help pay for abortion inducing drugs and services. They might be the only ones however. Based on the 2013 court cases, the administration is getting walloped and the HHS mandate is suffering setbacks and defeats one right after the other. A recent report by Alliance Defending Freedom breaks it all down:
“2013 proved to be a bad year for the Obama administration’s abortion pill mandate, which finished the year with 88 percent of court decisions going against it (53-7). Alliance Defending Freedom and its allied attorneys are currently winning their cases by a wide margin, with court orders going 15-1 against the mandate. Courts issued a flurry of orders against the mandate even in the waning days of the year, including orders in Alliance Defending Freedom cases filed on behalf of non-profit Christian colleges and universities in California, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania. The score in favor of non-profit religious entities is 18-1; the score in favor of families doing business is 35-6.”
It seems Americans and courts are not nearly as excited about the HHS mandate as the Obama administration is. At some point common sense would dictate that the mandate be scrapped and replaced with something more acceptable to a majority of Americans. If not, the Obama administration will continue to lose in courts and look foolish to the American public.
Victory for SBC and Christians Against ObamaCare
Posted on December 24, 2013 in Public Policy, Religious Freedom by Nathan Cherry
AP: “A federal judge granted an injunction Friday that prohibits the government from enforcing the federal health care law’s requirement that insurance coverage include access to the morning-after pill and similar contraceptives on almost 200 religious organizations that have filed a class-action lawsuit to block the mandate. The preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Timothy DeGiusti will prevent the government from enforcing the mandate as the religious groups’ lawsuit makes its way through the legal system. The lawsuit was filed in October on behalf of 187 ministries that provide their employees with health benefits through GuideStone Financial Resources, the health benefits arm of the Southern Baptist Convention.”
This is fantastic news for Southern Baptist ministries and every one that believes it is wrong for the government to force people to violate their faith. This decision – like the Hobby Lobby case and nearly every case against the HHS mandate – has decimated ObamaCare in the courts. Even the Obama administration is now seeking to alleviate penalties, change laws, and accommodate citizens after the pummeling in the courts.
For Southern Baptists and people of faith, this is another victory in the fight to defend religious freedom from government intrusion. I hope verdicts like this continue to roll out of the courts until Obama and his administration finally admit what every other American knows: it’s a bad law that needs repealed. Click here for original article.