It seems the day has arrived when pastors in the United States have the content of their sermons targeted by homosexuals. City attorneys in Houston have subpoenaed sermons given by local pastors who are in opposition to an equal rights ordinance that was passed earlier this year.
Religion News Service – Houston has subpoenaed sermons given by local pastors who oppose an equal rights ordinance, according to news reports Tuesday (Oct. 14).
Houston Mayor Annise Parker, who drew headlines for becoming the first openly lesbian mayor of a major American city, led support for the ordinance. The measure bans discrimination among businesses that serve the public, private employers, in housing and in city employment and city contracting.
Under the ordinance, transgender people barred access to a restroom would be able to file a discrimination complaint, one of the hotly contested parts of the ordinance.
The ordinance, which exempted religious institutions, was passed in June, though its implementation has been delayed due to legal complaints.
Opponents were hoping to repeal the ordinance through a repeal initiative, claiming the city’s attorney determined wrongly they had not gathered enough signatures to qualify for a ballot. The ordinance’s opponents reportedly gathered 50,000 signatures, well over the 17,269 needed for a November vote to repeal the measure, though proponents of the measure have questioned the validity of the signatures.
City attorneys issued subpoenas last month during the case’s discovery phase, seeking “all speeches, presentations, or sermons related to HERO, the Petition, Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality, or gender identity prepared by, delivered by, revised by, or approved by you or in your possession,” according to the Houston Chronicle.
Those responsible for the opposing petition sued the city, and the subpoena requested documents that include communication between the plaintiffs and pastors.
Arizona-based religious liberty advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom has filed a motion on behalf of the pastors seeking to halt the subpoenas. Five pastors filed a motion to stop the subpoenas they see as “overbroad, unduly burdensome, harassing, and vexatious.”
This is but the latest attack on the First Amendment freedom of religion by homosexuals and their supporters. Mainstreaming and normalizing their perversions will not be enough for them as long as there are pastors who have the temerity to label homosexuality for the sin that it is. Leftists have thrown the ‘separation of church and state’ myth at conservatives for decades, despite the fact that the phrase is not found anywhere in the Constitution. But now it seems that separation is not allowed if homosexuals object to what’s said from the pulpit.
I’ve no doubt that these subpoenas will be seen by the court as harassment and a violation of the First Amendment. The lesbian mayor of Houston (how did she get elected?) will have to find another way to silence the religious opposition to her homosexual activism. While the subpoenas will likely go away, the continuing story of this ‘equal rights’ ordinance will not. The efforts to get it voted on by the citizens of Houston seem to have been thwarted this time but I’m sure this won’t be the end of it.
This is just one more instance of homosexual activists assaulting freedom of religion. But of course, their definition of freedom of religion differs from those who actually have a religion. To homosexuals and other leftists, freedom of religion means they want all vestiges of religion to be removed from the public eye. No monuments, crosses, Ten Commandments or anything that even hints of religion is allowed to be on public land, lest it offend the heathens. Yes, to the sodomites, freedom of religion means freedom from religion.
While I’m sure these subpoenas are short-lived, what’s troubling is that this type of action is probably just getting started. Hauling pastors into court over what they preach from the pulpit is probably one of the next attacks that will be launched on Christianity. Silencing the opposition through intimidation is right out of the leftist playbook. I would not be surprised to learn that homosexual activists even infiltrate churches to monitor what’s being said.
If Houston’s lesbian mayor really wants the content of the pastors sermons I’d suggest that someone send her a Bible. I’m sure she doesn’t have one.
The only disagreement is the 1st Amendment argument. What the Houston mayor is attempting is a violation of the Texas Constitution, not the 1st Amendment. The Bill of Rights applies to the Federal Government. It is a modern perversion to incorporate it and apply it to the many States. Other than that, she’s a fascist b*tch and ought to be hounded from office. I hope and pray the pastors are faithful enough to tell her to pound sand.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott apparently disagrees with you. He sent a letter to the Houston City Attorney in which he said, “Whether you intend it to be so or not, your action is a direct assault on the religious liberty guaranteed by the First Amendment.”
I don’t expect these subpoenas to make it past the first court hearing.