By A. Dru Kristenev ——Bio and Archives--June 30, 2015
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"Many who deem same-sex marriage to be wrong reach that conclusion on honorable religious or philosophical premises, and neither they nor their beliefs are disparaged here. But when that sincere, personal opposition becomes enacted law and public policy, the necessary consequence is to put the imprimatur of the State itself on an exclusion that soon demeans or stigmatizes those whose own liberty is then denied[;]"the ruling does not empower the government to override the consistent application within that religious organization. For, by his own argument, it "soon demeans or stigmatizes those whose own liberty is then denied." It cannot work only one way where it supports a minority and despises the majority. Although, it wouldn't be off-base to suggest that the only rationale for adding this sentiment to the opinion was to appease religious faiths truly intolerant of homosexuality such as Islam. Where the situation gets sticky is this... the consequences of a church having subjected itself to the requirements of government by voluntarily signing up for non-profit status. It is unfortunate that over two decades of addressing the problematic application to government to receive non-profit status that churches already held, church leaders have denied what that action inadvertently occasioned: their placement under government oversight as a corporate or civil entity. This was covered in the article "Freedom of religion and the government "qualified" church." As much as Christian leadership will not want to hear this, the conclusion is that a church might only be legally cowed to submit to activist LGBT pressure if the individual church is organized under section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code. Yet, as the Hobby Lobby ruling went in favor of individuals -- and the corporation was defined as a "person" -- to continue following their deeply held religious beliefs, there may be relief in application of that case should a challenge be brought against a pastor. Frankly, it is a wonder that the Hobby Lobby case has not been cited more in recent so-called discrimination cases brought against businesses that stood by their religious conviction in denying services (having a winning application of the RFRA and First Amendment right to free exercise of religion). Churches take notice that remedy is available. Fear is not an option for those who operate in Faith.
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Former newspaper publisher, A. Dru Kristenev, grew up in the publishing industry working every angle of a paper, from ad composition and sales, to personnel management, copy writing, and overseeing all editorial content. During her tenure as a news professional, Kristenev traveled internationally as a representative of the paper and, on separate occasions, non-profit organizations. Since 2007, Kristenev has authored five fact-filled political suspense novels, the Baron Series, and two non-fiction books, all available on Amazon. Carrying an M.S. degree and having taught at premier northwest universities, she is the trustee of Scribes’ College of Journalism, which mission is to train a new generation of journalists in biblical standards of reporting. More information about the college and how to support it can be obtained by contacting Kristenev at cw.o@earthlink.net.
ChangingWind (changingwind.org) is a solutions-centered Christian ministry.