Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives voted 235-184 to pass a bill (H.R. 3685) which, if signed into law, will give homosexuals and bisexuals special rights in the workplace and threaten the religious liberties of business owners and a whole range of private organizations.
Every business or organization with more than fifteen employees will be prohibited from refusing to hire a person because of the person's “actual or perceived” sexual orientation. This means sexual orientation, which includes homosexuality and bisexuality, will be given the same status as race, sex, and age in our federal civil rights laws.
It would force Christian business owners, Boy Scouts, youth organizations, youth mentoring groups, universities and day care centers to violate their deeply held religious or moral beliefs regarding hiring persons engaged in homosexual or bisexual behavior.
While the bill exempts “religious organizations” the definition is vague enough to put at risk of legal attack organizations run on Christian principles. This list includes Christian bookstores and businesses, children’s homes, community centers, youth organizations, day care centers, schools and other non-profits.
It would prohibit employers from using marriage as employment criteria, e.g. marriage counseling ministries couldn’t require their marriage counselors to be legally married.
In conclusion, ENDA will enshrine "sexual orientation" in federal law, providing activist judges with the legal ammunition to move toward the legalization of gay marriage. (Previous court cases recognizing same-sex marriage have referenced the existence of sexual orientation in other areas of the law to justify their decisions in favor of same-sex marriage.)
The Minnesota Congressional Delegation voted 6-2 in favor of this bill. Republican US Representatives Kline and Bachmann voted against ENDA while all Democrat US Representatives Ellison, McCollum, Peterson, Oberstar, and Walz and Republican Ramstad voted in favor of ENDA.
Below are their phone and email addresses to express your appreciation for a vote against ENDA and disappointment if he or she voted for it.
Once again, ENDA is an attack on religious liberties and will expose business owners, schools and youth organizations like the Boy Scouts to legal attacks for seeking to uphold moral principles in their organizations and businesses.
Please call or email your US Representative at the following numbers. Email can be conducted through his or her webpage
Rep. Michele Bachmann 202.225.2331 or 651.731.5400
http://bachmann.house.gov/Email/
Rep. Keith Ellison - 202.225.4755 or 612.522.1212
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
Rep. John Kline - 202.225.2271 or 952.808.1213
http://kline.house.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInformation.ContactForm&
To=mn02hwyr@housemail.house.gov&
CFID=19823850&CFTOKEN=41563932
Rep. Betty McCollum - 202.225.6631 or 651.224.9191
http://mccollum.house.gov/custom/mccollum-contactme.asp
Rep. James L. Oberstar (D - 08) - 202-225-6211 or 218.727.8270
http://wwwc.house.gov/oberstar/zipauth.htm
Rep. Collin Peterson - 202.225.2165 or 218.253.4356 or 320.235.1061
http://collinpeterson.house.gov/email.html
Rep. Jim Ramstad - 202.225.6351 or 952.738.8200
mn03@mail.house.gov
Rep. Tim Walz - 202.225.3433 or 507.206.0650
http://walz.house.gov/ContactForm/ZipAuth.htm
5 comments:
I wonder if this was 1964 when the Civil Rights bill passed you would be this upset. It's the Christian thing to do not to discriminate. If you have such fear of Gay Marriage check out our trailer. Produced to educate & defuse the controversy it has a way of opening closed minds & creates an interesting spin on the situation: www.OUTTAKEonline.com
Charlotte,
"Rosa Parks didn't move to the front of the bus to support sodomy."
Rev. John Thomas
That's what many African American pastors tell me; the vast majority of which are offended by your self-seving civil rights analogy.
In September, Rev. Bob Battle of Berean COGIC said, “If you are going to call it a hate crime for me to preach the word of God regarding sin, then you might as well slap the cuffs on me right now. I will not stop!”
Charlotte, the civil rights movement was emancipation from a lie. ENDA, however, celebrates the bondage of a deadly, unhealthy behavior.
EQUAL RIGHTS are not special rights, unless the protections of the constitution guaranteeing freedom of religion are SPECIAL RIGHTS provided only to those who CHOOSE religion. You are not born a Christian, it is a lifestyle you choose. Special protection for this class is as abhorrent to some of us as your discussion of "special rights" for homosexuals.
The exemption is there for a reason - Christains CAN continue to discriminate... so all of your worrying is for nothing - just put it in gods hands.
Troy,
Informing the public about a deadly, unhealthy behavior is not discriminatory; nor does it require special religious rights.
Good points Chuck!
While we're at it, let's start drowning people to see if they're witches!
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