Arkansas A.G. Stands Up for Religious Liberty

Religious Freedom, , ,

We have written repeatedly about states around the country trying to force bakers, photographers, florists, and others to participate in same-sex ceremonies despite these individuals’ religious convictions about marriage.

In many cases, states are alleging that declining to participate in a same-sex wedding runs afoul of the state’s civil or criminal anti-discrimination laws. One of the more high-profile cases involves Arlene’s Flowers in Washington State.

Yesterday Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced she was co-filing an amicus brief in support of Arlene’s Flowers. Below is a press release from her office.

LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge is leading a 13-state coalition in filing an amicus brief in the Supreme Court of the State of Washington, urging the court to protect the religious conscience rights of its citizens. The attorneys general believe this case has national implications and that similar cases may arise in their states.

“This country has a rich history of protecting the rights of conscience and the free exercise of religion,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “Unfortunately, these rights have recently come under a sustained and coordinated assault even though they are the very reason many came to this country in the first place. Along with my colleagues, I am urging the Washington Supreme Court to recognize that the actions of the defendant are not discriminatory or unlawful but rather reflect sincerely held religious beliefs that should be accommodated in our pluralistic and tolerant society.”

The case involves an owner of a flower shop (Ms. Barronelle Stutzman) who declined to create a floral arrangement for and oversee its placement at a same-sex wedding based on her religious beliefs. She is being sued by the State of Washington under its discrimination law and unfair business practices act.

Stutzman has served this particular client for years, considered him a friend and remains willing to serve him in the future, but she simply believes based on her religious beliefs that she could not participate in and create a flower arrangement for the same-sex marriage.

The attorneys general conclude in their brief that “Our history encourages a public square with many voices, all trying to persuade others of their views. But Respondents want all the voices either to agree on one view or to be silent. Because that runs counter to America’s history of free speech and religious exemptions — which are embedded in Washington’s Constitution — Amici respectfully urge this Court to rule in Appellants’ favor.”

Arkansas is joined in filing by attorneys general from Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and West Virginia and the governors of Kansas and Kentucky.

We applaud Attorney General Rutledge and her office for taking a stand for religious liberty and rights of conscience.

You can read the amicus brief here.

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Marijuana: Smoking a Plant

Marijuana

The following blog post is by Family Council staff member Deborah Beuerman.

There’s no special “medical marijuana” plant.  The marijuana plant people smoke to get high is the same one some people claim is medicine.  Looks like you’d better be prepared for side effects when smoking that medicine.

Smoking?  Is there any other medicine people have to smoke?  Smoking itself is harmful.  And research continues to show marijuana contains more tar and toxins compounds than tobacco.

Marijuana smoke deposits in the lungs four times the tar of tobacco smoke.  While there is not conclusive evidence that marijuana causes as much cancer as tobacco, smokers suffer from the same chronic lung illnesses and infections and respiratory problems like bronchitis and COPD.

Marijuana does cause one special infection.  Aspergillus is a mold or fungus that grows on the plants.  When taken into the lungs, one type of Aspergillus causes an allergic reaction and coughing and wheezing.  Another type of Aspergillus can spread throughout the body and damage any of the organs, of course starting with the lungs.  This infection, invasive aspergillosis can be fatal in 90% of cases.

Smoking marijuana is not good for anyone’s health.

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Is Marijuana Safer Than Alcohol?

Marijuana

Purple_KushThe following blog post is by Family Council staff member Deborah Beuerman.

People who smoke marijuana frequently claim it’s safer than alcohol.  But why should that make a difference?  Both are harmful.  People get addicted to both.  People’s bodies are damaged and made sick by both.  Drunk drivers cause fatal accidents.  The number of fatalities with marijuana involved has more than doubled in states where marijuana is legal.

It’s a little easier to deal with drunks than with stoned people.  Proof is needed to arrest someone for impaired driving. It’s pretty easy to tell someone is drunk, and there are field sobriety tests and a breathalyzer to determine how much alcohol is in the system.  There are no field tests for marijuana levels, although some new marijuana breathalyzers are being tested.

How is “impaired” defined anyway?  With alcohol, it is a number to indicate the blood alcohol concentration, and the more alcohol that’s in the blood, the more drunk a person is.  Marijuana impairment can’t be defined that way—no numbers have been determined, neither has it been determined how to figure out what the numbers should be.

The body handles alcohol and marijuana differently.  Alcohol is water soluble, moves into the bloodstream, breaks down, and eventually is excreted out of the body. A person who quits drinking after reaching the “legal limit” of 0.08 blood alcohol will be sober in about 5 hours.

Marijuana is fat soluble and is stored in the fatty tissue in organs like the lungs, heart, brain, and liver.  Depending on how much is smoked, how often, and how potent it is, marijuana could be in a body 60 days later.

Marijuana is harmful.  Alcohol is harmful.  Why should we try to figure out which one is safer?

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