Donate
By: Bob Trent
Washington State’s Supreme Court concluded last week that the government can force creative professionals to create artistic expression and participate in events with which they disagree.
Barronelle Stutzman, a 72-year-old grandmother and small business owner, has been the target of the state attorney general and the ACLU ever since she declined to use her creative talents to promote a same-sex ceremony.
The court seemed to give no weight to the facts that Barronelle had served the customer for 10 years and to use her artistic talents to create a message promoting a same-sex ceremony would violate her faith. ADF Senior Counsel Kristen Waggoner is already working to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.
And it’s not just the ACLU and Washington’s AG who are trying to punish people for their beliefs, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is getting in on the act as well.
A beef inspector for the USDA saw that the owner of a small company in Michigan had placed an article on a breakroom table supporting marriage as between one man and woman amongst a number of other publications promoting same-sex marriage. Within hours, a USDA official threatened to shut down the beef processing business if the owner put the article in his breakroom again.
Alliance Defending Freedom President Michael Farris sent a letter to President Trump asking him to sign a Religious Freedom Executive Order to restore constitutional norms for religious liberty in America. An early draft of the EO would provide relief to business owners and nonprofit organizations that have seen a steady decline in their freedom to work and operate consistent with their beliefs.
We also have a guest on Freedom Matters this week: Jon Gabriel, Editor in Chief of Ricochet.com and host of the Conservatarians podcast joins us on the show. Jon writes on a wide range of topics including policy, politics, and pop culture and has been published in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and the New York Post.
Never miss an episode of Freedom Matters
Religious Freedom
No, Prince Harry, the First Amendment Isn’t “Bonkers”In a new episode of Dax Shepard’s podcast “Armchair Expert,” Prince Harry sharply criticizes the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Religious Freedom
Barronelle Makes a Bold Move: How Will the U.S. Supreme Court Respond?Today, with the help of Alliance Defending Freedom, she filed a supplemental brief with the U.S. Supreme Court urging it to decide her case directly in the wake of the Fulton decision.
Religious Freedom
Church Autonomy: What It Is and Why It’s ImportantA church or house of worship needs to maintain independence from government control in certain fundamental ways.