Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyJuly 21st, 2011
The Wildflower Inn, which is being sued for violations to Vermont’s equal accommodations law after refusing to host a wedding reception for a lesbian couple, has updated their web page. Right after the banner advertising that “The beautiful Northeast Kingdom is the perfectly place to host your meeting, conference, wedding or special event,” they add, “We are no longer hosting weddings and special events.”
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jOHN
July 21st, 2011
How about an ‘after wedding meeting’?
Christopher
July 21st, 2011
Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face!
Funny how those old maxims make sense the older you get!!!
mikenola
July 21st, 2011
below is the email I sent to the inn, and send to other haters who use god and the bible as a weapon against us gays and against muslims.
————————————
Recently you decided to enter into bigotry in the name of your God, the Christian god, yet you seem to not know the teachings of Christ who is, according to your religion, the Son of God and the bringer of the New Covenant and is who your religion is named after.
Your reported public statement (paraphrased) is that you have had many LGBT people at your inn, but it would violate your religious belief to allow them to wed in a civil ceremony using your services.
Matthew 7 and Luke 6 lay out exactly what your religion is supposed to do when faced with divergent opinions and contain dire warnings for the religous who want to use God and his Son as weapons against their perceived enemies.
I recommend you take time and review the passages below, paying special attention to Matthew 7:15-20 and figure out if the false prophets and phony religious leaders who are spouting hate in the name of God are really the leaders you should be following.
You know the ones I am speaking about, those that claim to “love the sinner” but are working diligently to outlaw LGBT people and codify legal discriminating against them into the U.S. Constitution. You are echoing their bigotry and parroting their hatred, you have set yourself up as the “judge” of others while refusing to remove the “beam” from your own eye.
No where does Christ teach that his followers should abuse and discriminate against others and he specifically taught that citizens should obey the law of their land. Christ was also apolitical, he expected the people to follower their rulers but to behave in kind and noble ways as he taught.
Take some time and actually read the sacred teachings of your claimed religions, and most importantly the words attributed to Christ by the Apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. You might just learn what twisted things the self-styled leaders of your religion have done to the words of your God.
Judging Others
Matthew 7
1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Luke 6
37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
38 give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
39 And he spake a parable unto them; Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?
40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
41 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.
A Tree is Known by Its Fruits
Matthew 7
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Luke 6
43 For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
I Never Knew You
Matthew 7
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
29 for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Luke 6
46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like:
48 he is like a man which built a house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it; for it was founded upon a rock.
49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.
Gus
July 22nd, 2011
Wait for the headline:
Family owned business FORCED to drop services because of teh ghey!
elaygee
July 22nd, 2011
Changed message won’t help, in fact, may hurt as they won’t host Gay groups or organizations meetings either.
Curtis
July 22nd, 2011
Poor little BIGOTS.
laura
July 22nd, 2011
Good for them. When their business goes under is it going to be considered God’s will?
Ben in Atlanta
July 22nd, 2011
Of course not. Sinners have to blame the holy homos. It’s in their covenant. Didn’t you get the memo?
Snark intended.
Regan DuCasse
July 22nd, 2011
‘Forced’ to burn down the school house so it couldn’t be integrated.
Same groceries in this case too. But has anyone looked back on segregationists as brave and courageous martyrs to their cause?
I won’t forget when Jerry Falwell was a staunch supporter of segregation. Especially schools and public accommodations just like this. And he claimed that God was on his side on that as well.
Let’s just say that religious beliefs are definitely not at work here. It’s belief in the work that bigotry can do.
Rob in San Diego
July 22nd, 2011
Fill them up with gays and lesbians attending the wedding. Maybe then the Yankee Magazine will strip them of “Best Family Resort.”
TampaZeke
July 22nd, 2011
The smarter thing for them to do, since this lesbian couple was hell bent on giving their hard earned gay dollars to people who don’t support them, would have been to tell the couple that they would host their wedding and then donate all the money paid to them to the National Organization for Marriage. Sadly the lesbian couple would probably STILL have had their wedding there.
Please folks, spend your money with businesses, proprietors and individuals who SUPPORT you and your community.
I’m kind of glad that the Inn keepers took the stupid way out.
Theo
July 24th, 2011
So the bizarre outcome is that the Inn will no longer host a traditional Catholic one man/one woman wedding, but it will rent a room to a gay or straight couple for a one-night stand. As odd as this is, it should protect them from a future anti-discrimination suit. However, it won’t save them from a suit by the lesbian couple that was turned away some weeks ago, as at that time the Inn was hosting weddings and post-wedding receptions.
Mark F.
July 26th, 2011
I’m curious as to why anyone would want to compel anti-gay bigots into doing business with them.
Priya Lynn
July 26th, 2011
Mark F, because its immoral for them not to do business with us, its an insult, and if we allow some people to refuse us service, where does it stop? Do we look the other way until it becomes a major problem to find someone who will serve you as it was for black people during Jim Crow?
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