First they went after bakeries. Now so-called “social justice warriors” – SJWs – are attempting to shut down entire farms.
Steve Tennes is a Marine veteran and the owner of Country Mills Farm in Charlotte, Michigan. He’s also a Christian, and therefore believes in traditional marriage.
Can you guess where this is going?
Tennes had the audacity to express his support for traditional marriage on social media. And in response, the city of East Lansing has banned Tennes from selling his products at the city farmer’s market.
This story is becoming far too commonplace.
Tennes’ problems began with a simple Facebook post. In 2016, when he was asked about how his privately owned business would handle requests to service same-sex weddings on his farm, he responded that he would run his business in accordance with his faith and refer such prospective clients to a comparable vendor who could perform the service without a conflict of conscience.
That answer didn’t sit well with the operators of the East Lansing Farmer’s Market. Tennes claims the city then began to pressure him to change his policy, with one city official informing him that his religious views were in violation of East Lansing’s civil rights ordinances.
There’s so much wrong with this situation that it’s difficult to even begin picking apart. Firstly, Tennes’ farm is privately owned — he can operate it however he sees fit. Secondly, that his Christian views would be in violation of East Lansing’s civil rights ordinances is so ironic it’s painful. Civil rights exist in order to protect religious freedom of all kinds — not just the politically correct kinds.
Finally, there’s the tiny fact that Country Mills Farm is actually located about 22 miles outside the city limits of East Lansing, meaning the city has absolutely no jurisdiction to tell Tennes what he can and can’t do on his privately owned property.
But because being a bully is one of the only things the government is good at, the East Lansing bureaucracy did everything they could to strong-arm Tennes into submission — even going so far as to change the city’s farmer’s market permit policy so that Tennes would have to submit a new application. And when he did, the city denied it.
Unsurprisingly, Tennes is suing the city:
Tennes is now filing a lawsuit against East Lansing; he is being represented by Alliance Defending Freedom.
The organization’s lead counsel, Kate Anderson, told the Lansing State Journal, “They are running their farm according to their beliefs, which is the right of every American. What is wrong here is the city of East Lansing targeting them and trying to discriminate against them for acting upon their believes and for believing.”
As they’ve demonstrated time and time again, liberals only believe in the First Amendment when it serves their own agenda — and God forbid anyone challenge the progressive hive-mind.
Vice President Mike Pence was right – Christians are under siege.
Share this with your family and friends and stand up for traditional Christian values!