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Judge: Christian Must Film Lesbian ‘Wedding’
publication date: Dec 20, 2009
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author/source: chalcedon.edu
A New Mexico court has ruled that a Christian photographer broke the law by refusing to film a lesbian “commitment ceremony.” The case was originally reported here on June 19, 2008.
The state “Human Rights” commission last year fined Elane Photography almost $7,000 for not photographing a lesbian “marriage.” The defendants, a husband-and-wife small business, were represented by the Alliance Defense Fund. The ADF has announced that it will appeal the case to the New Mexico Court of Appeals. The district court judge ruled that Elane Photography “does not represent a particular point of view or association of like-minded people. A photography business exists simply to take and sell photographs.” The judge ruled that “a sincerely held belief does not justify discrimination based upon sexual orientation under the New Mexico Human Rights Act,” and that the photographer “is not being forced to participate in any ceremony or ritual; the only requirement is that she photograph the event.” (You can read the entire ruling) We do not understand this ruling as anything but the state predictably taking the side of homosexual activists against Christians, and we are afraid we will see more of it in this country before we see less. How a photographer can film an event, thus memorializing it, without being a part of it, escapes us. What kind of event would a Christian photographer not be “required” to photograph? Would the judge “require” a homosexual photographer to film someone trampling the AIDS Quilt? Would he “require” a Jewish photographer to film an Aryan Brotherhood picnic? We doubt it. Probably the judge does not know that Christians are prohibited from taking any part in any event that holds God’s law up to contempt. “When thou sawest a thief,” says Psalm 50 (v. 18), “then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.” To witness an act of theft or adultery, and say nothing, is to give tacit consent to it and, indeed, to share in it. Even secular law recognizes this as “misprision of a felony,” and it may be prosecuted as an offense in and of itself. Here in New Mexico, then, we have a judge “requiring” a Christian to do against God’s law something she would be punished for if she did against man’s law. Whether ADF’s appeal is successful or not, we pray for strength to weather the statist storm until Our Lord rises up and stills the waters. |
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