A federal court ruled that the city of East Lansing can’t bar a Catholic organic farmer from their 2017 farmer’s market after the city specifically created an ordinance for the purpose of banning him because he posted about his support of traditional marriage on Facebook.
“Just like all Americans, a farmer should be free to live and speak according to his deeply held religious beliefs without fear of government punishment,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Kate Anderson, who argued in favor of the order on behalf of Tennes. “As the court found, East Lansing officials changed their market policy to shut out Steve because they don’t like his Catholic beliefs regarding marriage.”
The court’s ruling is temporary while the case moves forward but said, “On the evidence before this Court, the City amended its Vendor Guidelines and then used the changes to deny Country Mill’s vendor application. There exists a substantial likelihood that Plaintiffs will be able to prevail on the merits of their claims for speech retaliation and for free exercise of religion.”
That sounds like victory to me.
These kinds of stories kinda’ make my day. I love when Christians push back a bit. I’ve grown a bit tired of the view that being a Christian means acquiescing to every outrageous demand made on you by our government overlords. Christianity is not supposed to be the religion of nice. And sometimes we confuse nice with good. Doing good sometimes requires not being seen as nice. It’s a hard faith we have. It’s about love, forgiveness, and accepting truth.
Sometimes we only think we’ve been told to turn the other cheek in every possible situation. But please remember, Jesus also protected Mary Magdalen from the mob. And right now, when a Christian stands up for themselves against government infringement of religious liberty, they’re also standing up for other, future victims.
I know many of the big supposedly Catholic colleges and universities make a practice of bowing to the government. But don’t be like them. Make like the Little Sisters of the Poor and fight back.
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