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| Gay couple says business used bible to refuse them service. |
Todd Wathen of Mattoon, Illinois and his partner, who according to the Chicago Sun-Times, doesn't want his name in the press, filed a lawsuit after several Illinois businesses refused to host the couple's gay wedding ceremony and reception.
Shortly after Governor Pat Quinn signed the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act in January, Wathen and his partner started making their wedding plans.
The couple, who has been together for nearly eight years, contacted Beall Mansion Bed and Breakfast at 407 East 12th Street in Alton, Illinois and the TimberCreek Bed and Breakfast at 1559 East State Route 9 in Paxton, Illinois.
Both businesses denied the couple's request for services, but the TimberCreek B&B made their position crystal clear.
“We will never host same-sex civil unions. We will never host same-sex weddings even if they become legal in Illinois. We believe homosexuality is wrong and unnatural based on what the Bible says about it. If that is discrimination, I guess we unfortunately discriminate,” said Jim A. Walder, a representative of the TimberCreek Bed and Breakfast.
Todd Wathen and his partner have hired Chicago lawyer, Betty Tsamis.
What closed minded people and to use the Bible, yet again, as their reasoning, is just a cop out of the hatred they actually have in their heart. Wonder if people stay in their B&B who aren't married...wonder what the Bible says about that. Don't tell me, I already know, but the thing is...there weren't any conventional/traditional marriages in the Bible to begin with. We just think there were BUT if one reads the Bible without interpreting it the WAY THEY want to interprete it, there were NO traditional marriages...period! HATRED NEVER WINS!!!
ReplyDeleteOh, and they have Betty Tsamis, who will kick that B&B's butt to the curb!
@Towanda
ReplyDeleteMaybe you should look at your own way of interpreting the Bible because it's very clear about homosexuality. The thing people dislike about the Bible is that it's so clear people refuse to change. Homosexuality is a sin like any other sin. Everyone is born with sin and it affects everyone differently and only Jesus can save us from that.
God Bless everyone cause the days are getting shorter.
Anonymous@11:26am,
ReplyDeleteFirst, the Bible is up for interpretation by ANYONE who reads it BUT the one reoccurring theme throughout the Bible is LOVE, Compassion & Forgiveness, which seems to go by the way side with some people who only read the Bible to find ways of putting other people down through the scriptures. The Bible also forbids prostitution, adultery, premarital sex for women(only), and homosexuality. That would mean many many people will spend eternity in Hell, if that's what you believe in, and yet, these other "forbidden" acts often are accompanied by a "blind eye". How do you explain that? That tells me that many God fearing people read the Bible, and fewer that 1/3 of people actually read the entire Bible, and interprete it the way they want.
And please let me know where in the Bible where a "traditional marriage" is performed. It's not an interpretation, it's a fact.
Adam and Eve were a traditional marriage. :)
ReplyDeleteYou're joking right Rudy? Hooking up in the "Garden of Eden" does not a "traditional" marriage make. God did not say "you are man & wife" Adam was looking for a "help-mate" which is why Eve was created..Adam didn't like the animals. It's right there in the first books of Genesis.
ReplyDeleteHatred never wins. Why are we so mad at someone that wants to run their bed and breakfast the way they want to. People living in sin are "picked in heart" that means they are upset about those speaking truth. Jesus saves us "from sin" not "in our sins". This is what the word repentance means. To be sorry and turn around. You can't turn around if you can't even define sin. Brimfield
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