Proposed Fayetteville Ordinance Could Have “Chilling Effect” on Business

1 CommentCurrent Events, Homosexuality, Transgender, , , ,

I have been told by friends in Northwest Arkansas that the Fayetteville City Council is receiving 300 emails a day over its Proposed Chapter 119 ordinance. That’s great news!

This is an issue all Arkansans need to weigh in on, and it’s important that members of the council hear from as many people as possible.

The ordinance, as we have said before, threatens to infringe on the rights of churches as well as religious business people in Fayetteville.

You can read a full analysis of how the proposed ordinance affects religious liberty here.

It is also important to note that the ordinance has the potential to impact secular business owners. The ordinance makes it possible for businesses to face criminal prosecution if suspected of discrimination. Even if the allegations turn out to be totally false, a business might still be forced to spend thousands of dollars defending itself in court. For many small businesses, legal fees like those can be a death sentence. (more…)

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Proposed Fayetteville Ordinance Threatens Religious Liberty

7 CommentsHomosexuality, Transgender, ,

The Fayetteville City Council is currently considering “Proposed Chapter 119: The Civil Rights Administration.”

Proponents are billing this proposal as an anti-discrimination ordinance protecting the rights of homosexuals and transgender people (i.e. people who disagree with their biological gender) in Fayetteville. However, the ordinance carries a number of unintended consequences:

1. The ordinance affects churches. Under this ordinance, churches who have religious objections to homosexuality or disagreeing with one’s biological gender could face criminal prosecution if they refuse to hire a gay or transgender job applicant to fill a “secular” staff position (e.g. bookkeeper, receptionist, etc.).

Many churches do not distinguish between “secular” and “non-secular” staff positions. This ordinance would force them to do so.

Churches could also be forced to open their fellowship hall or similar portions of their property for same-sex “wedding” receptions and similar functions they find objectionable.

2. The ordinance inadvertently allows men to use women’s restrooms, locker rooms, and changing areas. (more…)

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Calling Your Child a Boy or Girl is Child Abuse?

Homosexuality, Transgender,

A blogger at Slate has written an article saying that calling your newborn baby a boy or girl could do irreparable harm to your child.

The article reads,

“With infant gender assignment, in a single moment your baby’s life is instantly and brutally reduced from such infinite potentials down to one concrete set of expectations and stereotypes, and any behavioral deviation from that will be severely punished—both intentionally through bigotry, and unintentionally through ignorance.”

Eric Metaxas at the Chuck Colson Center for Christian worldview analyzed the bizarre comments, saying,

“Yes, she’s saying—she’s actually, seriously saying—that a doctor who tells you the sex of your baby could be doing the baby irreparable harm, by not taking into consideration that in later years, that child might not want to belong to that sex. . . .

“Why am I taking this kookiness seriously, even enough to mention it? Because I think we need to recognize what got this culture to the point of such absurdity—and where we might go from here.

“For years now we’ve been hearing ever louder arguments that we need to free children and everyone else from the tyranny of gender, with all the practical implications that argument has—laws that say that boys can use girls’ bathrooms if they identify as girls, for instance.”

You can listen to Metaxas’ full analysis of the article and its implications below.

[audio:http://bit.ly/XEJsAN|titles=Eric Metaxas – Gender Assignment as Russian Roulette?]

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