Hi everyone. We've just been through a marathon of the Feasts of the Lord in October. The election is in eight days so everyone is involved in that, but I want to begin a dialogue about 1st Amendment rights versus equal protection rights and protection from discrimination. The US Commission on Civil Rights seems to say that the later group of rights take precedence over 1st Amendment rights of freedoms of Speech, Religion and Association to name a few. Let's leave out the argument of "Separation of Church and State" because there is a good argument the framers of the Constitution meant only that the State should keep far away from religion and not that religious values have no place in the areas sponsored by the public.
     So why is this all becoming a big issue in the US? The answer is that Federal and State government bodies are saying they can decide what is secular and what is religious in a church and therefore they can force religious institutions to accept edicts about transgender bathrooms when an activity is deemed secular. These state pronouncements violate the religious freedom of certain churches and congregations and even mosques. Here are some  places you can go on the internet that discuss actual cases in Massachusetts and Iowa. Please read these articles and let's talk. If you can't click on them on the blog, just cut and paste them in your browser . Shalom. David Schneier.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/10/11/churches-sue-over-new-transgender-law/fCinR6brzLADxFEjS4DRbI/story.html

http://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/federal-judge-wont-dismiss-iowa-churchs-lawsuit-20161017