- LifeZette - http://www.lifezette.com -
Posted By Todd Starnes On May 31, 2017
@ 6:17 PM In Faith |
The
Tennes family has been farming in Michigan for generations.
They
grow all sorts of crops at the Country Mill Farm — organic apples, blueberries,
pumpkins, and sweet corn.
“My
wife and I both volunteered to serve in the military. Now we come home and the
freedom that we worked to protect, we have to defend in our own backyard.”
And
for the past seven years, Steve Tennes and his family have sold their produce
at the farmer’s market owned by the city of East Lansing.
But
this year — city officials told the devout Catholic family that their
blueberries and sweet corn were not welcome at the farmer’s market. And neither
were they.
Last
year, someone posted a message on Country Mill’s Facebook page inquiring about
whether they hosted same-sex weddings at the farm.
Tennes
told the individual they did not permit same-sex marriages on the farm because
of the family’s Catholic belief that marriage is a sacramental union between
one man and one woman.
City
officials later discovered the Facebook posting and began immediate action to
remove Country Mill from the farmer’s market, alleging the family had violated
the city’s discrimination ordinance.
They
have decided to fight for their constitutional rights.
It did
not seem to matter to city leaders that the farm is located 22 miles outside
the city limits — and had absolutely nothing to do with the business of selling
blueberries at the market.
“We
were surprised and we were shocked,” Steve Tennes told me. “My wife and I both
volunteered to serve in the military — to protect freedom. Now we come home and
the freedom that we worked to protect — we have to defend in our own backyard.”
I
reached out to city leaders but they did not return my calls seeking comment.
“Whether
you are a Jew, Muslim or Christian — people of faith should not be eradicated
from the marketplace simply because they don’t share the same thoughts and
ideas that the government is choosing to promote,” Steve told me.
So
they have decided to fight for their constitutional rights.
Alliance
Defending Freedom filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday alleging East Lansing
violated the constitutional rights of the Tennes family.
“All Steve wants to do is sell his food to
anyone who wants to buy it, but the city isn’t letting him,” said ADF legal
counsel Kate Anderson. “People of faith, like the Tennes family, should be free
to live and work according to their deeply held beliefs without fear of losing
their livelihood. If the government can shut down a family farmer just because
of the religious views he expresses on Facebook — by denying him a license to
do business and serve fresh produce to all people — then no American is free.”
I
warned you about this kind of attack in my new book, “The Deplorables’ Guide to
Making America Great Again.”
The
attacks on religious liberty did not end just because a Republican is in the
White House.
There
is a concerted effort by the Left to silence free speech and eradicate
Christianity from the public marketplace. The only course of action is to stand
and fight.
I
commend the Tennes famly and Alliance Defending Freedom for filing a lawsuit.
Don’t let up until every last kernel of sweet corn has been restored to its
rightful place in the farmer’s market.
Shuck
it to the cob, America!
Todd Starnes is the host of Fox News &
Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations around the nation. He is the
author of “The Deplorables’ Guide to Making America Great Again.”
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