Religious freedom loses another battle to gay "rights"

Ocean Grove is a quiet little hamlet on the Jersey shore. It was founded in 1869 by a group of Methodists seeking a place to relax in the summers and worship in a communal setting. They formed the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association to administer their chosen square mile of paradise, nestled just south of Long Branch and bordered by fresh water lakes. The New Jersey State Legislature granted them a Charter which begins by stating:

All the land in Ocean Grove is owned by the Camp Meeting Association. They rent tent sites during the summer and hold religious services in a large open air pavilion on the boardwalk. They also allow this pavilion to be used for weddings and certain other festivities such as music shows and theater groups. On March 5, 2007 a lesbian couple applied to use the pavilion for their civil union ceremony. The Camp Meeting Association rejected the request on the grounds that it would conflict with their religious beliefs. They consecrated this land and did not wish for it to be defiled.

The couple, looking to make a name for themselves and score political points, sued the Association for violating their civil rights. Never mind that there are literally thousands of alternative venues along the Jersey shore, any one of which would be suitable for their ceremony. They wanted to impose their values onto a Christian group, with nary a consideration for what that group might believe.

The State of New Jersey agreed with them. On Sunday the State Division on Civil Rights ordered Ocean Grove to issue them a permit for their civil union or face criminal discrimination charges.

The ruling, not unexpected in this lefty-liberal state, is a travesty. The free exercise of religion is a precious right, but apparently it is no match for the imagined "rights" of the homosexual lobby. With this edict New Jersey is effectively saying that religious beliefs must take a backseat to personal preferences; anyone must be allowed to use any venue for any "lawful" purpose, even if that purpose is completely at odds with the beliefs and values of the venue's owners. In the State's twisted reasoning, if any location is available to the public for weddings, then it must be available for civil unions.

No church in New Jersey is now safe. Churches host wedding all the time. How long will it be before a gay couple sues to host their civil union ceremony at The Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark? It's a magnificent building and one of the most beautiful Catholic churches in America. Don't think that it can't happen; the selfishness of the radical homosexual agenda knows no bounds. They fervently wish to secularize every facet of American life and eradicate all vestiges of our Judeo-Christian heritage. All in the name of "tolerance" of course. But "tolerance" doesn't extend the other way — they have no desire to understand, let alone tolerate, Christian religious beliefs.

New Jersey has deemed that weddings are a public event, and if a facility is open to the general public then it must remain forever open on a non-discriminatory basis. But Christian weddings are not strictly "public" events. They are religious ceremonies. A Catholic cannot be married outside the solemnity of the Mass where marriage is a sacrament administered by an ordained priest. Non Catholics can attend wedding masses, but they cannot participate in the sacraments. This is not discrimination; it is religious doctrine.

When the State of Massachusetts ruled that Catholic Charities had to provide adoption services to same-sex couples the Catholic Church reacted by going out of the adoption business. How that helped the thousands of children seeking loving parents remains unclear. But the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association took a similar approach. They chose to no longer offer the use of their boardwark pavilion for wedding ceremonies. Barring weddings thus means that requests for civil unions can now alse be denied without fear of legal repercussions. Of course it also means that parishoners of their church must now go elsewhere if they wish to be married.

And that is the real shame of this ruling. The free exercise of religion has been subordinated to the whims of a vocal antithetical minority. Holy sites are no longer protected from incursion by marauding heathen herds. Two thousand years of Christianity is no match for a bunch of whiny little poseurs seeking legitimacy through bureaucratic intimidation.

Posted at 11:19 by Chris Wysocki   [/rants]   Comments | Perm Link |   |   Tweet