Fayetteville Residents to Rally for Religious Freedom Next Week

Religious Freedom, , , ,

On Tuesday, August 11, residents of Fayetteville, Arkansas, will rally in support of religious freedom and in opposition to the city’s proposed “nondiscrimination” act, Ordinance 5781.

The rally will take place on Tuesday, August 11, at 7:00 PM at University Baptist Church at 333 W Maple St. in Fayetteville.

Featured speakers include Aaron & Melissa Klein of Sweet Cakes in Oregon. You may recall the Kleins were fined $135,000 and ultimately had to close their business–all because they declined to bake a cake for a same-sex ceremony.

On Tuesday, September 8, voters in Fayetteville will be asked to vote for or against Ordinance 5781, a “nondiscrimination” act very similar to the one voters overturned last December. Early voting begins September 1.

The group Protect Fayetteville, who is sponsoring the rally, is calling on voters to vote against Ordinance 5781 next month.

Ordinance 5781 carries many of the same unintended consequences as the ordinance proposed last year:

  • It fails to protect religious liberty;
  • It inadvertently allows men to use women’s restrooms, showers, locker rooms, and changing facilities–and vice versa;
  • It forces business owners–like the Kleins–who want to operate their businesses in accordance with their deeply-held religious convictions to choose between obeying the law and obeying their conscience.

You can find out more about the ordinance and the September 8 election at www.protectfayetteville.com. You can download a flyer about next week’s rally here.

Photo Credit: “Old Main from the northwest, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas (autumn)” by Brandonrush – Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported.

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City of Houston Trying to Seize Church Property

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The Housing Authority for the City of Houston is trying to use eminent domain to seize the property of two churches.

According various news sources and a lawsuit filed by two Houston area churches, the city is trying to implement an urban renewal program that involves the construction of a library and a 63-unit housing project. In order to complete the project, the city says it must obtain property owned by the Latter Day Deliverance Revival Church, a predominantly African-American congregation located in the neighborhood.

Eminent domain prevents the government from taking personal property without compensation. Traditionally, the government would work with property owners to negotiate a fair price for any property the government wishes to acquire.

In recent years, however, eminent domain powers have been applied more broadly in many contexts, forcing citizens and groups who do not necessarily wish to part with their property to do so in exchange for whatever compensation the courts deem fair. (more…)

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What Do the Undercover Videos of Planned Parenthood Officials Tell Us?

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The Center for Medical Progress has released five undercover videos as part of an investigation into the procedures Planned Parenthood affiliates use when performing abortions and delivering aborted fetal remains to researchers.

The videos have raised several allegations, including,

  • The allegation that abortion doctors may be using a procedure similar to illegal, partial-birth abortion techniques in order to maximize the amount of tissue available for researchers;
  • The allegation that abortion doctors are violating federal law by changing the abortion procedure in order to maximize the amount of tissue available for researchers;
  • The allegation Planned Parenthood is selling aborted babies in violation of federal law;

With so much information surfacing so quickly because of these videos, it can be difficult to keep track of how many videos have been released and what is contained in each one. Below is a brief synopsis of each video. (more…)

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