{"id":5559,"date":"2014-10-21T07:23:34","date_gmt":"2014-10-21T14:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/?p=5559"},"modified":"2014-10-21T07:23:34","modified_gmt":"2014-10-21T14:23:34","slug":"officiate-gay-weddings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2014\/10\/21\/officiate-gay-weddings\/","title":{"rendered":"Idaho Pastors Face Jail, Thousands in Fines for Refusing to Officiate Gay Weddings"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 class=\"normal-case\">Idaho Pastors Face Jail, Thousands in Fines for Refusing to Officiate Gay Weddings<\/h1>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<article class=\"span12\">\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span12\">\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span12\"><strong>Amanda Casanova<\/strong>\u00a0|\u00a0<em>Religion Today Contributing Writer<\/em>\u00a0| Monday, October 20, 2014<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row-fluid content\">\n<div class=\"span12\">\n<div class=\"top-bar-container row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"inner-bar\">\n<div class=\"logo-container\">\n<div class=\"logo\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>Two Christian pastors in Idaho have filed a lawsuit and asked the courts to temporarily restrain city officials from making them perform same-sex wedding ceremonies. Donald Knapp and wife, Evelyn, operate Hitching Post Wedding Chapel and have been required by city officials to perform same-sex marriages or else be jailed or fined.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><a href=\"http:\/\/www.christianpost.com\/news\/idaho-pastors-face-jail-time-thousands-in-fines-for-not-performing-gay-weddings-128325\/\">The Christian Post reports\u00a0<\/a>that Knapp\u2019s penalty could be up to 180 days in jail and fines up to $1,000 per day that they refuse to officiate the weddings. After one week, that would amount to three years in prison and $7,000 in fines.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The city of Coeur d\u2019Alene says its non-discrimination ordinance requires the couple to perform the wedding ceremonies.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;The government should not force ordained ministers to act contrary to their faith under threat of jail time and criminal fines,&#8221; ADF Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco said in a statement.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;Many have denied that pastors would ever be forced to perform ceremonies that are completely at odds with their faith, but that&#8217;s what is happening here \u2014 and it&#8217;s happened this quickly,&#8221; Tedesco added. &#8220;The city is on seriously flawed legal ground, and our lawsuit intends to ensure that this couple&#8217;s freedom to adhere to their own faith as pastors is protected just as the First Amendment intended.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><em>Publication date: October 20, 2014 (from\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.christianheadlines.com\/blog\/idaho-pastors-face-jail-thousands-in-fines-for-refusing-to-officiate-gay-weddings.html\">http:\/\/www.christianheadlines.com\/blog\/idaho-pastors-face-jail-thousands-in-fines-for-refusing-to-officiate-gay-weddings.html<\/a>)<\/em><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">My response to this? <\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Stop doing drive-by weddings for money! In our congregation, I have stringent requirements \u00a0for anyone that I will marry. Marriage is an institution ordained of YHVH, and we want it to be built on a solid spiritual foundation, so that it will last. We don&#8217;t want to be a contributor\u00a0to the epidemic of divorce\u00a0statistics.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">These are my requirements: You must be in our congregation for one\u00a0year and attend every Shabbat service and all the feast days. You must go through an entire Torah cycle with us. You must be born again spiritually (including repenting of sin, which is Torahlessness, which includes the sin of homosexuality) with Yeshua as your Savior and Master. You must undergo three months of marriage counseling from a qualified Bible-believing marriage counselor. Boom. That&#8217;s it. After that, we&#8217;ll perform a nice Hebraic wedding for you with our congregational blessing on it.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Needless to say, I perform very few weddings.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>My word to the folks in Idaho who&#8217;ve turned marrying people into a business is the same message I have for pastors who&#8217;ve turned running a church into business:<\/strong><em><strong> Stop your unbiblical, hireling and money-grubbing ways. Repent of your sin!<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><strong>YHVH is using the State to judge\u00a0the church for\u00a0its ungodly ways.<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"evernoteSiteMemory\"><a href=\"javascript:\" onclick=\"Evernote.doClip({title: 'Idaho Pastors Face Jail, Thousands in Fines for Refusing to Officiate Gay Weddings',url: 'https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2014\/10\/21\/officiate-gay-weddings\/',contentID: 'post-5559',suggestTags: 'Homosexuality,marriage',providerName: 'Hoshana Rabbah Blog',styling: 'text' });return false\" class=\"evernoteSiteMemoryLink\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.evernote.com\/article-clipper.png\" \nclass=\"evernoteSiteMemoryButton\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\t\t\t\t<div class=\"evernoteSiteMemoryClear\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Idaho Pastors Face Jail, Thousands in Fines for Refusing to Officiate Gay Weddings Amanda Casanova\u00a0|\u00a0Religion Today Contributing Writer\u00a0| Monday, October 20, 2014 Two Christian pastors in Idaho have filed a lawsuit and asked the courts to temporarily restrain city officials &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2014\/10\/21\/officiate-gay-weddings\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[647,455],"class_list":["post-5559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current","tag-homosexuality","tag-marriage"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - 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