faith & justice
DESCRIPTION
Volume VII, Issue 2TRANSCRIPT
Volume VII, Issue 2
AN ENEMY OF THE STATECan a Christian run a business without violating his faith?
The government says no.
M i n u t e s W i t h A l a n
I‘ve always been enthralled by history. I like to know, and cherish, the impact others have made.
Give me a free day and a museum, a battlefield, the preserved home of one of my heroes—and I’m about as happy as a man can be. Give me a great book about our faith, or Washington, or Eisenhower, and airport crowds and the confined space of the airplane cabin fade for awhile.
But, of course, those kinds of days and diversions don’t come for me any more often than they come for you. In between are lots of days when I stand at the podium or sit at a microphone, talking to rooms full of people who are looking at, and listening to, me. It comes with my calling, and it’s an opportunity for me to do what this ministry is all about—enabling millions of Christians across this country to freely share their deepest beliefs in the public square.
Still, standing and speaking for Christ, and religious freedom, is different from talking about ... me. Which is why, when the people on our communications team—the media, marketing and creative specialists—come to me about filming a “CEO video,” I start to squirm.
Yes, it’s good to have something to show at banquets and events that will help people understand “Who is this guy?” charged with leading Alliance Defending Freedom, and “What makes him tick?” But there’s a reason this ministry has never been built around any one persona, and why we’ve never worked to make anyone on our
Being Candid About Camerasby Alan Sears, President, CEO and General Counsel
Volume VII, Issue 2 CONTENTS
8 AN ENEMY OF THE STATE“It’s important for me
to live every part of [my faith] wherever I go, whatever I do.
Even here at work.”
—Lemar Hahn—
4 LIVING FAITH IN A CHANGING AMERICA“We speak in a way that understands that
those who disagree with us are not our enemies.”
6 STANDING FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH ON AMERICA’S CAMPUSES“We’re getting people to talk—and that’s our goal.”
14 THEY BOW TO NO ONE IN DEFENDING PRAYER“They let us, as students, go first. People actually
wanted to hear what we had to say.”
16 ALLIANCE PROFILE: NOEL STERETT“We understand law as a calling, and our Christian faith
pretty much informs all that we do.”
C o v e r S t o r y :
Alliance Defending Freedom would enjoy hearing your comments on the stories and issues discussed in Faith & Justice. Please direct comments/questions to www.AllianceDefendingFreedom.org, call 800-835-5233, or write: Editor, Faith & Justice, Alliance Defending Freedom, 15100 N. 90th Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85260.©2014, Alliance Defending Freedom. All rights reserved.
@AllianceDefends www.AllianceDefendingFreedom.orgAlliance Defending Freedom Editor Chuck Bolte
Senior Writer Chris Potts
Design Director/Photography Bruce Ellefson
Contributors Taylor Dalton, Rachel Fisk, Olivia Jensen, Doug Napier, Lauryn Porter, Chris Potts, Alan Sears
Alliance Defending Freedom15100 N. 90th Street
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
[Phone] 800-835-5233
[Fax] 480-444-0025
Anthony Hahn enjoys an easy camaraderie with longtime Conestoga employees like Rodney Franck and Scott Werley
Alliance Defending Freedom | 3
M i n u t e s W i t h A l a n
I‘ve always been enthralled by history. I like to know, and cherish, the impact others have made.
Give me a free day and a museum, a battlefield, the preserved home of one of my heroes—and I’m about as happy as a man can be. Give me a great book about our faith, or Washington, or Eisenhower, and airport crowds and the confined space of the airplane cabin fade for awhile.
But, of course, those kinds of days and diversions don’t come for me any more often than they come for you. In between are lots of days when I stand at the podium or sit at a microphone, talking to rooms full of people who are looking at, and listening to, me. It comes with my calling, and it’s an opportunity for me to do what this ministry is all about—enabling millions of Christians across this country to freely share their deepest beliefs in the public square.
Still, standing and speaking for Christ, and religious freedom, is different from talking about ... me. Which is why, when the people on our communications team—the media, marketing and creative specialists—come to me about filming a “CEO video,” I start to squirm.
Yes, it’s good to have something to show at banquets and events that will help people understand “Who is this guy?” charged with leading Alliance Defending Freedom, and “What makes him tick?” But there’s a reason this ministry has never been built around any one persona, and why we’ve never worked to make anyone on our
team a household name. ADF is about serving Jesus Christ and His people ... not building one person’s legacy or reputation.
It helps to know I’m not the only one who enjoys biogra-phies. Most of us find encouragement in seeing how oth-ers have faced their personal challenges and built on the unique opportunities God has given them. By His grace, He has blessed me with more than my share, and my ex-periences give me a distinct perspective on this ministry, and on what we are facing in the days ahead.
So, it’s time, they recently told me, for a new video. To make the medicine go down, our creative team came up with a spoonful of sugar. On my next working trip back east, they would steal a day to film me at some of my favorite places (the Supreme Court, Abe Lincoln’s sum-mer home) and visiting with the courageous pastors and laity of the Bronx Household of Faith.
I hope the results will remind you of the extraordinary heritage of religious freedom we have in this country, and of all that our Lord is enabling ADF to do to pre-serve that heritage.
John 15:5–Apart from Christ, we can do nothing.
Take a few moments and view this new video about Alan’s history and vision for the ministry. Visit AllianceDefendingFreedom.org and click on “Faith & Justice.”
Being Candid About Camerasby Alan Sears, President, CEO and General Counsel
Volume VII, Issue 2 CONTENTS
4 LIVING FAITH IN A CHANGING AMERICA“We speak in a way that understands that
those who disagree with us are not our enemies.”
6 STANDING FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH ON AMERICA’S CAMPUSES“We’re getting people to talk—and that’s our goal.”
14 THEY BOW TO NO ONE IN DEFENDING PRAYER“They let us, as students, go first. People actually
wanted to hear what we had to say.”
16 ALLIANCE PROFILE: NOEL STERETT“We understand law as a calling, and our Christian faith
pretty much informs all that we do.”
What changes or developments in American culture are of greatest concern to you?
I do not have a gloomy, pessimistic view of Ameri-
can culture. We see the secularizing of American culture
in some ways, but I think what’s falling away is not au-
thentic, genuine Christianity, but nominal, cultural Chris-
tianity. And it’s being replaced with a vibrant, counter
cultural Christianity. The resurgence of apostolic Chris-
tianity, [particularly] among young people across this
country, is extremely cheering to me.
American culture is changing, in some ways for the
worse, but Christianity didn’t emerge in Mayberry. It
emerged in a very difficult place, where Christianity was
seen to be freakish. And so, as the culture increasingly
sees the Gospel as freakish, or even dangerous, in many
ways that’s because they’re simply hearing what we have
to say in a clear way.
I often say that my perspective on the culture is
summed up in the lyrics of the Grateful Dead song
“Touch of Grey”: It’s even worse than it appears, but it’s
alright. Meaning that we’re always going to have a dif-
ficult cultural ecosystem around us, because we live in a
fallen world. But the Kingdom of God marches forward,
and Jesus is ultimately triumphant.
4 | Alliance Defending Freedom
O n T h e S q u a r e
with
D r . R u s s e l l M o o r e
Russell D. Moore enjoys a unique vantage point for
viewing the cultural conflicts of America today. Elect-
ed president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious
Liberty Commission in 2013, he is the point man for
the denomination’s public response to the nation’s
moral concerns. He is also its foremost spokesman on
public policies related to those issues, interacting with
political leaders at the highest levels of government.
A former provost and dean of The Southern Baptist
Theological Seminary, Dr. Moore also taught theol-
ogy and ethics at the school, and has authored several
books, including Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adop-
tion for Christian Families & Churches and Tempted
and Tried: Temptation and the Triumph of Christ. He
and his wife, Maria, are the parents of five sons.
Q &A
You’ve been especially outspoken about the Conestoga Wood Specialties and the Hobby Lobby cases recently argued before the U.S. Supreme Court (both of which have ties to Alliance Defending Freedom). What makes these cases so important?
The Hobby Lobby and Conestoga cases are critical for
Christians [and] non-Christians … including those who have
no faith at all. Christians
have fought long and hard
in this country for religious
liberty. This is a long-cher-
ished right, paid for with the
blood of our forefathers and
foremothers, and we need
to guard it, and we need to
honor it.
We also need to recog-
nize that religious liberty
isn’t a grant from the state.
It’s a natural right, given by
God, that the state must rec-
ognize. So we need to stand
vigilant there.
What I would say to people of no religious faith is that re-
ligious liberty is [also] in their best interest … because a gov-
ernment that is powerful enough to pave over the consciences
of religious believers is a government that will be able to pave
over their consciences, as well.
I don’t think any of us want the sort of world that would
say people “trade in” their consciences and convictions when
they go into the marketplace. If we say that to Hobby Lobby
and Conestoga Wood, then how are we going to be able to
have any moral accountability for people acting in corpora-
tions? How will we be able to call on corporations to have a
moral conscience when it comes to polluting the air and the
water? So, it’s in everyone’s interest.
Living Faith In A Changing America
Go to AllianceDefendingFreedom.org and click on “Faith & Justice” to learn about our most recent efforts to preserve your religious freedom, and visit www.russellmoore.com to glean additional insights from Dr. Moore.
Photo: The Christian Post/N.Nazworth
You’ve been especially outspoken about the Conestoga Wood Specialties and the Hobby Lobby cases recently argued before the U.S. Supreme Court (both of which have ties to Alliance Defending Freedom). What makes these cases so important?
The Hobby Lobby and Conestoga cases are critical for
Christians [and] non-Christians … including those who have
no faith at all. Christians
have fought long and hard
in this country for religious
liberty. This is a long-cher-
ished right, paid for with the
blood of our forefathers and
foremothers, and we need
to guard it, and we need to
honor it.
We also need to recog-
nize that religious liberty
isn’t a grant from the state.
It’s a natural right, given by
God, that the state must rec-
ognize. So we need to stand
vigilant there.
What I would say to people of no religious faith is that re-
ligious liberty is [also] in their best interest … because a gov-
ernment that is powerful enough to pave over the consciences
of religious believers is a government that will be able to pave
over their consciences, as well.
I don’t think any of us want the sort of world that would
say people “trade in” their consciences and convictions when
they go into the marketplace. If we say that to Hobby Lobby
and Conestoga Wood, then how are we going to be able to
have any moral accountability for people acting in corpora-
tions? How will we be able to call on corporations to have a
moral conscience when it comes to polluting the air and the
water? So, it’s in everyone’s interest.
Why do Christians need to be actively engaged with today’s political and cultural issues?
There are always going to be those who are tempted to
evacuate the public sphere altogether—but I believe that’s im-
possible. There have been Christians on the Right and the Left
who have replaced the Gospel with a political agenda—that has
happened. But churches that simply don’t address social ques-
tions at all don’t avoid that problem. They typically become the
most politicized churches of
all. A church in 1845 Georgia
that doesn’t address the ques-
tion of slavery is addressing
slavery … by baptizing the
status quo. And a church in
2014 that doesn’t address
abortion is standing for the
status quo of a culture that
devalues the human life of
the unborn.
So we must speak on
issues facing the culture—
but we speak in a way that
understands that those who
disagree with us are not our
enemies. The Bible says we don’t wrestle against flesh and
blood, but against principalities and powers “in heavenly plac-
es”—which means that we speak with conviction, but also with
kindness toward those who disagree with us.
How do you see Alliance Defending Freedom contributing to these spiritual struggles?
Alliance Defending Freedom is remarkably impressive
to me, as a group of people with amazing legal skill and a
well-formed heart for the right things … working not only
in the legal arena, but also in cultivating churches and
church leaders, to understand why religious freedom is
important. There’s always a temptation for people to take
religious liberty for granted, and ADF has been very effective
in pointing out why we can’t do that, and in equipping
churches to be able to prepare the next generation to fight
for religious liberty.
Alliance Defending Freedom | 5
Living Faith In A Changing America
Religious liberty isn’t a grant from the state. It’s a natural right, given by God, that the state must recognize.
Go to AllianceDefendingFreedom.org and click on “Faith & Justice” to learn about our most recent efforts to preserve your religious freedom, and visit www.russellmoore.com to glean additional insights from Dr. Moore.
Photo: The Christian Post/N.Nazworth
Dr. Russell Moore is a leading spokesman for Southern Baptists on political and cultural issues impacting people of faith.
These days, students wondering how seriously their college or
university officials take the First Amendment are finding it easy to
determine the answer. They could ask permission or funding for any
number of events or activities, but perhaps the most surefire test is
something called the Genocide Awareness Project, or GAP.
GAP uses some graphic images to remind viewers of something
most would rather forget: that abortion is the natural extension of
a line of government-sanctioned brutality that runs back through
human history, including (but not limited to) slavery and the Ho-
locaust. Student pro-life groups, setting up the display along busy
walkways and campus quads, are attracting a lot of attention for
their cause—and a lot of censorship from campus administrators.
“We’re getting people to talk—and that’s our goal,” says Angela
Little, who was a senior at Eastern Michigan University when her
chapter of Students for Life of America (SFLA) brought GAP to their
campus. “By the time I’m 30, one in three women will have had an
abortion. So, basically, everyone knows someone who’s had one.”
Like other pro-life students on campuses coast to coast, presenting a
6 | Alliance Defending Freedom
S p e c i a l F e a t u r e
I have no problem with protest … but I do have a problem with them infringing upon my freedom of speech.
– Christian Andzel
Standing For Freedom Of Speech On America’s Campuses
Christian Andzel defends life—and speech—at the University of Buffalo.
Alliance Defending Freedom | 7
Why is my voice being squelched? – Spencer Anderson
wide range of projects, events, debates,
guest lectures, and protests, Angela
says her group had just one goal: “to
get people to say, ‘Is abortion okay?’”
“Groups like SFLA are providing the
ideas and resources for pro-life stu-
dents to engage in effective pro-life
advocacy on campus,” says David
Hacker, Senior Legal Counsel with Alli-
ance Defending Freedom. ADF assists
groups like SFLA, he says, when they
run into unconstitutional restrictions
on speech. Events like GAP show just
how widespread those restrictions re-
ally are.
Spencer Anderson was a student at
Columbus State Community College
when he saw an anti-abortion film, 180,
that opened his eyes to how common
abortion is among college students
(more than half of all U.S. abortions
involve women under 25). Spencer
wondered if he could help change that.
Through Facebook, he befriended other
pro-lifers—and learned of GAP.
He spent months trying to secure per-
mission for the project from school
officials. It finally came—with strict
limits on how much of GAP could
be shown, and where. Officials also
brought in the police, and both hov-
ered so much that Spencer wondered,
“Why is my voice being squelched?”
Angela’s SFLA group couldn’t even get
past their own student government
leaders, who denied funding for the
GAP event, saying it was too “biased”
and “controversial”—even though
they‘d approved funding for plenty of
controversial displays and events bi-
ased toward leftist views.
“I got mad,” Angela
says. “I’ve paid hun-
dreds of dollars in
student fees every
year, and never seen
any of it go to a group
I actually agree with.
Just because they’re a
big university doesn’t
mean they’re always
right. Sometimes,
they need to be con-
fronted.”
At the University at
Buffalo in New York,
Christian Andzel and
his SFLA group con-
fronted some 250 pro-abortion stu-
dents who stormed their GAP presenta-
tion, overwhelming the pro-lifers and
hanging umbrellas, shower curtains,
and bedsheets over the pictures. Local
police, brought in to keep order, sim-
ply stood by and watched.
“I have no problem with protest,” says
Christian, who says his passion on
this issue stems from being put up for
adoption as an infant in Columbia, by a
mother who might easily have aborted
him. “Bring it on, and we’ll debate—but
I do have a problem with them infring-
ing upon my [and my club’s] freedom
of speech.”
Christian, Angela, Spencer, and their
pro-life groups soon joined the doz-
ens of students and organizations
who each year enlist ADF attorneys to
defend their rights, as protected by
the First Amendment. Hacker says the
three students’ experiences “represent
common threats to religious liberty and
free speech on campus,” a censorship
he says is “rooted in a campus culture
that is hostile to Christian and conser-
vative students.”
ADF attorneys have successfully in-
terceded for thousands of students at
schools nationwide—including Chris-
tian, Angela, and Spencer—restor-
ing their right to speak thoughtfully
about issues like abortion and share
their faith in ways that may nudge
their fellow students out of their com-
fort zone.
“Because of groups like SFLA, students
today are more pro-life than the previ-
ous generation,” Hacker says. “We’re
seeing many more young people re-
spond positively to the pro-life issue
and want to go out and tell others.”
By holding to their beliefs amid back-
lash and controversy, he says, Angela,
Spencer, and Christian are showing
students facing similar censorship that
they, too, can stand for their right to
speak freely—even against universities
that demand their silence.
Visit AllianceDefendingFreedom.org and click on “Faith & Justice” to learn
more about these students and what this ministry is doing to preserve First
Amendment protections on campus.
Christian Andzel defends life—and speech—at the University of Buffalo.
The Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) display is prompting discussions—and censorship.
8 | Alliance Defending Freedom8 | Alliance Defending Freedom
— b y C h r i s P o t t s —
You would think a family that’s spent a half-century making drawers and cabinets would know a little some-thing about compartmentalizing. That is, after all, why people buy and install drawers and cabinets—so that they can tuck away things they’re not using … store them out of mind and out of sight.
The Hahns understand that. They make their living carefully crafting oak and cherry, maple and pine cre-ations so simple and beautiful that whatever may be stored within becomes almost an afterthought.
They’re good enough at it that their business has grown, in 50 years, from a two-man operation to more than a thousand employees. Among their customers, they have a reputation for excellence. Within their com-munity, they’re respected for their generosity. Their
employees speak of the family’s kindness
and compassion.
The Hahns themselves speak little of any
of these things; privacy is as fundamen-
tal to their character as faith is to their
beliefs. But they are not ashamed of their
convictions, or of how those convictions
shape their daily life and work and envi-
ronment. Their beliefs are personal, but
they are not hidden away.
In houses and offices, drawers and
cabinets have their place. People like the
Hahns, though, have no compartments
in their hearts. They believe that if a man
truly holds to his convictions, he must
honor them as faithfully on the floor of
his factory as he does at his own break-
fast table.
But now the Hahns have come face-to-
face with the hard reality that people who
don’t share their religious beliefs—and
even some who do—look on faith like the
things in their cabinets … as something
to be tucked away, out of mind, and out
of sight.
It’s a view the federal government is now
compelling the Hahns to share. But for
people who have built their business as
much on deep-seated belief as on finely
crafted wood … the government’s de-
mands go hard against the grain.
I t is perhaps both easier, and
harder, for the Hahns to under-
stand what is happening in
American legal culture today than it is for
people of other faith backgrounds and
persuasions, in other parts of the country.
As Mennonites, they represent a
500-year-old history of struggling for
the right to live out their beliefs. “Strug-
gling”—not “fighting.” The Mennonites
have always cherished peace, shunned
war, and responded to the various po-
litical and cultural pressures inflicted
upon them by moving on, in search of
places more sheltered from the social
storms. That search has dispersed them,
through the centuries, across Europe
and into Africa, India, and South and
Central America. Nearly 300 years ago,
it brought a sizable number of them
and their denominational cousins, the
Quakers and Amish, to North America.
There, many—including the Hahns’
own ancestors—put down roots in the
newly-founded colony of Pennsylvania.
What they found there, to a degree none
of their kind had experienced anywhere
else, was pure religious freedom …
genuine tolerance for their beliefs and
respect for their determination to live
out that very personal faith in every
aspect of their lives and communities.
Now, suddenly, after three centuries of
peaceful coexistence with their fellow cit-
izens in this vast, ever-changing country,
they find themselves engulfed again by
religious, political, and cultural pressures
that may, once more, deny them the free
expression of their personal faith.
T he business that opened the
Hahns’ lives to these intrusions,
Conestoga Wood Specialties,
first took shape in the family garage in
1964. Samuel gave himself to the hands-
on work of creating doors, cabinets, and
other furnishings, while his brother Nor-
man focused on the books.
“I basically grew up with the company,”
says Anthony, one of four sons born
to Norman, each of whom took a turn
working for the fledgling company. An-
thony and his brothers Kevin and Lemar
were the three who stayed with it—Kevin
as a member of the board, Lemar as
project engineer and chairman of the
board, Anthony as president and CEO.
“It’s all I really knew,” Anthony remem-
bers. “We lived across the street, so it
was part of our life.” Both of his parents
worked for the company, whose offices
were upstairs in the family home. An-
thony’s first job was mowing the fac-
tory lawn. Like his brothers, he in time
learned the intricacies of saws, shapers,
sanders, and other equipment. Eventu-
ally, he assumed management and office
duties. Improved technology outpaced
some of his early skills, but “I can still
make a door,” he says, smiling.
Lemar, who works in the engineering
department, still makes a little of every-
thing, but especially enjoys tinkering
with adhesion—finding effective ways
of melding wood pieces together. He
finds something particularly reward-
ing, he says, in “just knowing that wood
stays together by a substance, and our
customers depend on that for safety
10 | Alliance Defending Freedom
“They want to live their lives according to their faith.
Now, for the first time in 300 years, the government is telling them they can’t.”
– R A N DY W E N G E R –
Anthony Hahn touches base with Conestoga employees Kathy Mellinger (l) and Luther Sensenig (r).
and a good appearance.” The substance
that has held the Hahns together, he
says, is their biblical beliefs. Lemar
appreciates how faithfully his parents
taught him to believe in Christ “early on
in life,” and sent him to a school that
reinforced Christian principles. “My
faith is very important to me,” he says.
“It’s important for me to live every part
of it wherever I go, whatever I do. Even
here at work.”
“Our faith—that’s what we’re founded
on,” Anthony says. “That’s what we were
building our company on—those values,
those principles that we grew up with.
It was our faith, our religion, to do busi-
ness in a fair and ethical manner, and
to treat our employees that way. ‘Treat
other people the way you want them to
treat you.’ That is in the Bible, and it’s
played an important part in how we
do business. And God has blessed this
company.”
Indeed. Conestoga is now one of the
largest manufacturers in the county,
with a reputation not only for employ-
ing outstanding craftsmen, but for pay-
ing them well and treating them fairly.
“They’ve been trying to live their lives
so thoroughly consistent with their reli-
gious faith,” says Randy Wenger, Chief
Counsel with the nearby Independence
Law Center, who knows the family as
neighbors as well as clients. “The way
they live out their faith in trying to serve
others … to really be Christian light and
truth, pervades everything, in terms of
the way they run their business.”
Wenger recalls encountering a group
of Russian refugees working in the
Lancaster plant—only one of whom, it
turned out, understood any English. The
Hahns had hired all of them, knowing
the group would be able to make a better
wage working together, at the factory,
where only one would have to speak the
language.
“I love the Hahns,” Wenger says. “Just
the fact that they’re real people, in every-
thing they do. They do good work, and
they’ve got a lot of customers because
they do good work. God has blessed
them in their business, and they’re look-
ing in every way that they can to build
back into the Kingdom of God.”
That same determination, though, now
has the Hahns at odds with their own
government … and every effort they’ve
made to explain their actions and be-
liefs has been lost, so far, in translation.
T he Department of Health and
Human Services’ 2012 abortion
pill mandate stunned Christian
business owners across America, includ-
ing the Hahns. The law dictates that all
employers must underwrite, as part of
their employees’ insurance benefits, life-
ending abortion drugs. Those who decline
to pay for their employees’ abortion pills
risk fines of $100 dollars a day … per
employee. Few businesses of any size can
sustain a financial penalty of $36,500 a
year, per employee.
By refusing to grant them religious ex-
emptions for the mandate, then, the
government is, in fact, ordering business
owners—whatever their personal views
on the sanctity of human life—to actively
support abortion, or risk crippling fines.
“I’m really disappointed,” Lemar says.
“We’re Christians. We don’t believe in
taking life. And now … here we are.”
“This is a moral concern for us,” Anthony
says. “We actually have a sanctity of life
statement that we put together that says
we believe that life begins at the instant
conception takes place. Nobody has a
right to take that life except God. So we
really don’t want to be in a business of
providing drugs to our employees that
could potentially cause abortion.”
But standing for that conviction puts the
Hahns on the horns of another dilemma:
confronting their own government.
“Mennonites don’t go to court,” says
Wenger, whose Independence Law Center
was recruited by the family to defend
them. “Here, they needed to go to court
to be able to protect their rights.” Con-
vincing the Hahns of that, he says, meant
reaching “I wouldn’t say a comfort level,
but an understanding, of what needed to
be done. They want to be able to run their
business, serve their clients and their
employees in a way that honors God. So,
‘Okay, we need to go to court.’”
“It was soul-wrenching,” Anthony says.
“We’re nonresistant, peace-loving people.
We’re not in the legal world, doing a lot of
Alliance Defending Freedom | 11
“They want to live their lives according to their faith.
Now, for the first time in 300 years, the government is telling them they can’t.”
– R A N DY W E N G E R –
12 | Alliance Defending Freedom
lawsuits and things. So that was really trou-
bling … to stand up and make that stand.
But we felt we needed to. We just did not
want to go against what we believe.”
“Norman Hahn was almost in tears, as
he was speaking to us about the moral
dilemma that this was creating for them,”
says Wenger. “They want to live their lives
according to their faith. Now, for the first
time in 300 years, the government is tell-
ing them they can’t. Instead, they’re the
enemy of the state, and the enemy of the
government’s new policy.
“That just seems wrong, for the govern-
ment to create enemies … when these
are people who only want to serve. These
are genuinely good people. And they
only want to do good. [Yet they’re] being
treated like they’re doing something bad
to society.”
In fact, Wenger says, the government
that would punish the Hahns for not tak-
ing sufficient care of their employees is
actually making it harder for them to do
so. Prior to the Affordable Care Act, “the
Hahns were providing outstanding insur-
ance—all kinds of things that weren’t
required by any law whatsoever; they were
just concerned about their employees and
their employees’ well-being. They didn’t
need to be told by the government to do
the right thing.”
Since the government got involved,
though, Wenger says, “it’s much more dif-
ficult and much more expensive to be able
to care for their employees in the way they
want to. Instead, they’re being mandated
now to do something that isn’t even pre-
venting disease—it’s preventing, in all too
many cases, a live human being—a new
life—from growing and being born.”
The family business would face $100,000 a
day in fines if the Hahns refused to follow
the mandate. Yet the thought of supple-
menting abortion was unbearable. In De-
cember 2012, they filed suit
against their government in
federal court.
T hey lost. They
appealed, and lost
again. They ap-
pealed to the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the 3rd Circuit—
and lost again. Wenger, an
Alliance Defending Freedom
Allied Attorney who had
worked closely with the
ministry in the earlier trials,
realized the Hahns would
need attorneys with solid
Supreme Court experience if
they were to file the only
appeal left to them. Learning
that ADF attorneys, representing other
businesses, schools, and ministries, had
won 18 of 19 court decisions blocking
implementation of the HHS mandate, the
family enlisted ADF to join their legal
team.
“The legal experience of Alliance Defend-
ing Freedom is amazing, and empower-
ing,” Wenger says. “From the get-go, we
were on the phone with ADF attorneys …
and because of the alliance, we were able
to move the case effectively. Then, in ap-
proaching the Supreme Court level, to be
able to bring ADF in as counsel, has been
instrumental, just in terms of their vast
experience at this specialized level.”
“We have a great legal team,” Anthony
says. “I’m glad they’re supporting us,
speaking for us—I’ve never had to speak in
the courtroom. But I can say, sitting there,
listening … I literally can feel my hands
getting sweaty, because it’s just such an
important issue for us, as a family.”
“One of the judges said the choice for the Hahns in this case is either to bury their religious beliefs or bury their business,” says ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman, “and certainly no one should have to make that choice. If the government can force the Hahns to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs just to engage in a liveli-hood … that sets a dangerous precedent. If the government can do that to them, it can certainly do much worse to others.
“This isn’t a narrow issue about the HHS mandate,” he says. “The principles that are involved here are much broader than that, because they extend to all of our daily lives.”
“Most people spend their lives trying to earn a living for their family,” says ADF Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman, “and if the federal government can declare that religious freedom doesn’t exist when you do business, or in healthcare, or in other areas of life, then the federal government is assuming a power to itself to take away our freedoms and to control what we’re doing. That’s incompatible with the First Amendment, and with the freedoms this country was founded to protect.
“The question in this case is whether all Americans will have religious freedom, and be able to live and do business ac-cording to their faith, or whether the federal government can pick and choose what faith is … who are the faithful … and where and when they can exercise that faith.”
T he Hahns’ case—in conjunction
with that of another family-
owned business, Hobby Lobby,
owned by the Green family of Oklahoma—
was argued at the U.S. Supreme Court on
March 25. A decision in the case was ex-
pected in June. Essentially, Wenger says,
the court will rule on whether family
businesses “are protected by the religious
liberty rights in our Constitution, and
whether the owners of these corporations
“One of the judges said the choice for the Hahns in this case
is either to bury their religious beliefs or bury their business.”
– D AV I D C O R T M A N –
Alliance Defending Freedom | 13
lose their constitutionally protected reli-
gious liberties when they open the doors
for business.”
After all, if you’re running a family busi-
ness, “it’s not as if it’s some abstract
entity out there that operates on its
own,” Wenger says. “It’s operated by real
people who stay awake at night worrying
about how they’re going to pay the bills.
We can make things in the Constitution
ridiculously abstract, but at the end of
the day, the court has to grapple with
the fact that these are real people who
have real convictions at stake.”
If the court somehow decides that neither
family companies nor their owners have
any rights, Wenger says, “our religious
liberty rights are going to mean less and
less in the modern age, particularly as
government seems to be getting more
hostile toward religious beliefs. Moral-
ity is changing, and the kind of morality
that’s being pushed by the government is
changing. We’re going to have a lot more
situations where religious freedom could
be—and is being—burdened. So it’s criti-
cal that the court get this right.”
O ne unfortunate side effect of
suing the federal government—
and having your case go all the
way to the U.S. Supreme Court—is that
you attract a lot of attention to yourself.
That can be good for your case, and good
for your ego, if you happen to like the
spotlight. The Hahns don’t.
“As attorneys, we feel like it’s important
for people to know what’s going on in
these cases, because there’s a level of
sympathy that people have when they un-
derstand the difficulty that this mandate
causes in people’s lives,” Wenger says.
“But we’re really limited in terms of media
because [the Hahns] are not looking at get-
ting attention for themselves—they just
want to run a business, according to their
faith. They would rather not be meeting
with media at all.”
Unfortunately, the higher the case has
moved up the litigation ladder, the more
media attention it’s received. For the
Hahns, Wenger says, that attention has
spurred not excitement, but “resignation,
because they felt it was their duty … a way
to maintain their religious liberties, and
help others. But I can tell you, they’d have
been glad for someone else to take the
lead on this.”
“The Hahns are a great example,” Cortman
says. “It’s an incredible testimony, when a
family is brave enough to take on the dif-
ficulties of litigating a case, going against
the administration, going to court all this
time, fighting for their beliefs at great cost
to themselves.”
Looking back at all that, Anthony says,
“There’s more at stake here than I real-
ized. Allowing people to work hard, make
a living, and grow their businesses—with-
out having government intervening and
causing issues and concerns. First Amend-
ment rights. Religious liberty. Freedom. It
just feels like they’re all being taken away.
It’s very difficult, but … here we are.”
“These people are the real deal,” Wenger
says. “They’re not, as some might sug-
gest, Christians who are just trying to
get out from under the rules that every-
one else has to follow. They love God,
and the people around them … and just
want to be able to continue to do that in
freedom.”
“I literally can feel my hands getting sweaty,
because it’s just such an important issue
for us, as a family.”– A N T H O N Y H A H N –
For the latest information on this case and an inspiring video of the Hahns’ story, visit AllianceDefendingFreedom.org and clicking on “Faith & Justice.” You’ll also learn more of our continuing efforts nationwide to defend the right of all Christians to live out their faith in their daily lives.
14 | Alliance Defending Freedom
It was Lauryn’s idea. (She and Rachel are in junior high; Olivia and Taylor
are in high school.) She had attended an earlier meeting of the board, and
learned that the prayer issue would be discussed at the next session. She
knew that each of us was at least a little interested in politics, and that all
of us cared about the freedom to pray.
So she contacted the rest of us, and suggested that we all go to the meet-
ing together, and that maybe each of us could prepare a little speech to
give when they opened the floor for statements from the public. We got
together, talked about it, and agreed the issue was important enough to
make a stand. Maybe, we thought, it would be good for the adults to know
that prayer was something young people cared about, too.
We went home, talked it over with our parents, and went to work on our
speeches. The night of the meeting, most of us gathered at Lauryn’s house,
prayed together, and piled into her mom’s car for the ride to the meeting.
Olivia had learned that the school board in a neighboring town had just
dealt with the same question. (Under pressure to stop opening their meetings
with prayer, a board member had sought out advice from Alliance Defending
Freedom, whose attorneys helped the board members work out a policy that
conformed with the Constitution—and allowed them to keep praying at their
meetings.) The fact that another school’s board had decided to continue
THEY BOW TO NO ONE IN DEFENDING PRAYERby Taylor Dalton, Rachel Fisk,
Olivia Jensen, and Lauryn Porter
M y V i e w
“Some of our friends in the audience said people had tears in their eyes … but not everyone was enthusiastic.”
On January 28, the Governing Board of Gilbert
(Arizona) Public Schools paused in the midst of its
lengthy evening’s agenda to invite public input on
whether or not to begin opening its monthly busi-
ness meetings with prayer. The crowd stirred to life
when the first four citizens invited to the microphone
turned out to be teenagers. The four were friends
of different ages, schools, and backgrounds, united
only by their involvement in the same local church,
their participation in the same weekly book club, and
their shared conviction that the right of people to
pray should be protected. One by one, they cleared
their throats and stepped up to the mike.
It was Lauryn’s idea. (She and Rachel are in junior high; Olivia and Taylor
are in high school.) She had attended an earlier meeting of the board, and
learned that the prayer issue would be discussed at the next session. She
knew that each of us was at least a little interested in politics, and that all
of us cared about the freedom to pray.
So she contacted the rest of us, and suggested that we all go to the meet-
ing together, and that maybe each of us could prepare a little speech to
give when they opened the floor for statements from the public. We got
together, talked about it, and agreed the issue was important enough to
make a stand. Maybe, we thought, it would be good for the adults to know
that prayer was something young people cared about, too.
We went home, talked it over with our parents, and went to work on our
speeches. The night of the meeting, most of us gathered at Lauryn’s house,
prayed together, and piled into her mom’s car for the ride to the meeting.
Olivia had learned that the school board in a neighboring town had just
dealt with the same question. (Under pressure to stop opening their meetings
with prayer, a board member had sought out advice from Alliance Defending
Freedom, whose attorneys helped the board members work out a policy that
conformed with the Constitution—and allowed them to keep praying at their
meetings.) The fact that another school’s board had decided to continue
THEY BOW TO NO ONE IN DEFENDING PRAYER
praying gave us hope that our board
might reach a similar decision.
The big room was still pretty full when
it came time for us to speak. Taylor, who
probably has the most experience talking
in front of groups, went first. He some-
how managed to quote
both Winston Churchill
and Bruce Lee in his re-
marks, while making his
point that:
“If we are truly loyal to our
country, and honestly pledge
allegiance to it, then we
must recognize the stanza
[of the Pledge] that states
that we are a nation ‘under
God.’… Even if you do not
believe, as the Founding Fa-
thers did, that there is such
a higher being, a prayer
can be used as a moment to
meditate and contemplate
the ideas and propositions
about to be discussed. … I know that keep-
ing prayer in these meetings will impact
them for the better, thus helping to give us,
the rising generation, the chance to achieve
higher educational goals.”
“I just wanted to make sure that people
understood me—not just what I was say-
ing, but what I meant,” Taylor says. “So I
prayed for wisdom, that God would help
me get my point across in a way people
would understand.” Lauryn was hoping the
same thing as she came up after him.
“I am here because I have a strong desire
for prayer to be brought back to your school
board meetings,” she told the crowd. “You
guys have stewardship over many people
and are making very big decisions every day.
You should want God’s help for those impor-
tant decisions … and to me every decision
is an important decision when it affects the
youth of our country.” Rachel was up next.
“Praying isn’t something everybody believes
in,” she said, “but they can still listen and
feel the peace others feel. Our Senate says
morning prayer before conducting their
business. When any body of elected officials
is making decisions for other people, they
should pray for knowledge and guidance
and more wisdom than they have.”
Olivia came up last, and struck a patriotic
note. “George Washington said, ‘It is im-
possible to rightly govern without God.’
He believed that prayer in action allowed
his ‘thoughts,
words, and work’
to be directed for
good, which, in
settings such as
these, is crucial to
success. Bringing prayer into these meet-
ings will demonstrate an appreciation and
acceptance for all religious backgrounds.
This preservation of religious cultures and
ideas, no matter what they may be, pro-
vides an atmosphere conducive to these
school board meetings’ effectiveness.” Pray-
ing is especially important, she told them,
in “making decisions where the welfare of
children is involved.”
Some of our friends in the audience said
people had tears in their eyes while we
were speaking. Even one of the board mem-
bers wiped at his eyes. When the meeting
closed, we congratulated each other. After
all of our own preparation, it had been fun
to hear what we each had to say. Then sud-
denly, we were surrounded. People from
all over the room kept
coming up to tell us how
much they appreciated
what we had said.
“I wish I’d had your elo-
quence when I was your
age,” one said. “Thanks
for being brave enough to
speak up about this,” said
another. But not everyone
was enthusiastic. One
woman accused Lauryn’s
mother of forcing us to
attend the meeting. “You
told them what to say!”
she said.
We were all kind of
shocked that someone would think we had
to be there. Lauryn’s mom tried to explain
that we all chose to come—that this was
actually important to us. We’re friends,
and this is what we believe. Some of us
get teased a lot and verbally attacked for
our faith. It was great to have a chance
to stand up in public and speak out for
prayer and what we believe.
Two great things came out of that night.
First, the board voted to begin opening
its meetings with prayer. And second, we
realized something: they let us, as stu-
dents, go first. People actually wanted to
hear what we had to say—just because
we’re young.
If we are virtually guaranteed a chance
to speak, we decided—shouldn’t we do it
more often? Shouldn’t all young people of
faith take advantage of this opportunity,
every chance we get? We think so—and
we’re all looking forward to the next
chance we get to stand up, speak up, and
make a difference.
Alliance Defending Freedom | 15
(L.- r.) Olivia Jensen, Taylor Dalton, Lauryn Porter, and Rachel Fisk talk with ADF Senior Counsel Brett Harvey.
Visit AllianceDefendingFreedom.org and click on “Faith & Justice” to learn more about this ministry’s efforts nationwide to preserve religious freedom in the public square.
For Noel Sterett, a partner with the Chicago law firm of Mauck & Baker, being a Christian attorney translates into … well, translating.
“I saw law school as an opportunity to learn a new lan-guage,” he says, “and to use my language skills to serve others. Every day, I’m able to use language to persuade a judge, serve a client, write a contract. Each type of case is a new vocabulary … a new way of talking.”
The language of intercession comes easily for Sterett, who—in addition to English, French, and sundry legal dialects—speaks the lingua franca of his firm: prayer.
“At Mauck & Baker, prayer is a big part of everything—we pray for each other, for our clients, for the judges, for opposing counsel. We understand law as a calling, and our Christian faith pretty much informs all that we do,” he says. Like all of the other members of his firm, Sterett is an Alliance Defending Freedom Allied Attor-ney, and is “really involved in the kinds of cases ADF pursues”—as evidenced, most recently, by his work on behalf of The Life Center (TLC) of Elgin, Illinois.
TLC provides young women with easy access to free pregnancy screening and ultrasounds. The ministry’s mobile pregnancy center regularly parks near local high schools, where teens too frightened to visit a hospital, doctor’s office, or even TLC’s main facility can come aboard quickly, quietly, and anonymously for diagnosis and counseling.
In 2013, the Elgin City Council suddenly decided to amend the community’s land ordinances, sharply cur-tailing the issuance of temporary land use permits. TLC staffers found themselves charged nearly $200 every time they parked their mobile clinic—and greatly limited in how often they could park in one place. The costs made it prohibitive for the clinics to operate, and difficult for potential clients to know where the clinics would be.
Sterett’s firm filed suit on TLC’s behalf, a judge ruled in the center’s favor, and on February 26, the city coun-cil passed an amendment allowing the mobile clinic to operate as before. Sterett counted his work on the case among the more than 5,000 pro bono hours he’s logged as an Allied Attorney (two-and-a-half-years of work, valued at nearly $1 million)—and an opportunity “to live out my faith in a broken world where injustice is preva-lent, and there are hurting people.”
16 | Alliance Defending Freedom
A l l i a n c e P r o f i l e
Noel Sterett Mauck & Baker, LLC
On April 7, the U.S. Supreme
Court declined to hear argu-
ments in Elane Photography v.
Willock, the case of a Christian
photographer, Elaine Huguenin,
who was penalized by the New
Mexico Human Rights Commis-
sion for declining to use her
creative talents to help “cele-
brate” a same-sex “commitment
ceremony.” (See Opinion, p. 18).
The New Mexico Supreme Court
ruling last summer, affirming
the Human Rights Commission’s
decision, remains for now, the
last word on the case. The omi-
nous implications of the state
high court’s ruling were under-
scored by a concurring state-
ment, issued by one of the jus-
On April 3, the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
ruled 2-1 that churches can-
not continue to hold weekend
worship services in New York
City’s public schools. The case
centers on the litigation that
first started in 1995 when Bronx
Vol. II, Iss. 2 HOUSE OF HOPE
POINT AND SHOOT Vol. II, Iss. 1
U p d a t e s
Visit AllianceDefendingFreedom.org and click on “Faith & Justice” to see how ADF is protecting land use for organizations like The Life Center. To learn more about the work of Mauck & Baker, visit www.mauckbaker.com
For Noel Sterett, a partner with the Chicago law firm of Mauck & Baker, being a Christian attorney translates into … well, translating.
“I saw law school as an opportunity to learn a new lan-guage,” he says, “and to use my language skills to serve others. Every day, I’m able to use language to persuade a judge, serve a client, write a contract. Each type of case is a new vocabulary … a new way of talking.”
The language of intercession comes easily for Sterett, who—in addition to English, French, and sundry legal dialects—speaks the lingua franca of his firm: prayer.
“At Mauck & Baker, prayer is a big part of everything—we pray for each other, for our clients, for the judges, for opposing counsel. We understand law as a calling, and our Christian faith pretty much informs all that we do,” he says. Like all of the other members of his firm, Sterett is an Alliance Defending Freedom Allied Attor-ney, and is “really involved in the kinds of cases ADF pursues”—as evidenced, most recently, by his work on behalf of The Life Center (TLC) of Elgin, Illinois.
TLC provides young women with easy access to free pregnancy screening and ultrasounds. The ministry’s mobile pregnancy center regularly parks near local high schools, where teens too frightened to visit a hospital, doctor’s office, or even TLC’s main facility can come aboard quickly, quietly, and anonymously for diagnosis and counseling.
In 2013, the Elgin City Council suddenly decided to amend the community’s land ordinances, sharply cur-tailing the issuance of temporary land use permits. TLC staffers found themselves charged nearly $200 every time they parked their mobile clinic—and greatly limited in how often they could park in one place. The costs made it prohibitive for the clinics to operate, and difficult for potential clients to know where the clinics would be.
Sterett’s firm filed suit on TLC’s behalf, a judge ruled in the center’s favor, and on February 26, the city coun-cil passed an amendment allowing the mobile clinic to operate as before. Sterett counted his work on the case among the more than 5,000 pro bono hours he’s logged as an Allied Attorney (two-and-a-half-years of work, valued at nearly $1 million)—and an opportunity “to live out my faith in a broken world where injustice is preva-lent, and there are hurting people.”
On April 7, the U.S. Supreme
Court declined to hear argu-
ments in Elane Photography v.
Willock, the case of a Christian
photographer, Elaine Huguenin,
who was penalized by the New
Mexico Human Rights Commis-
sion for declining to use her
creative talents to help “cele-
brate” a same-sex “commitment
ceremony.” (See Opinion, p. 18).
The New Mexico Supreme Court
ruling last summer, affirming
the Human Rights Commission’s
decision, remains for now, the
last word on the case. The omi-
nous implications of the state
high court’s ruling were under-
scored by a concurring state-
ment, issued by one of the jus-
tices, saying that being forced
to contribute her creativity to
activities she doesn’t believe in
is “the price of citizenship” in
America today.
That issue will continue to be
challenged in several other cas-
es currently being defended by
Alliance Defending Freedom.
Alliance Defending Freedom | 17
On May 5, 2014, the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled 5-4 in favor of the town of
Greece, New York, affirming the con-
stitutionally protected right of local
officials to open civic meetings with
voluntary prayers led by local citizens.
Americans United for Separation
of Church and State had filed suit
against the town on behalf of two local
residents who objected to the com-
munity’s prayer tradition. In a bizarre
opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the 2nd Circuit had earlier ruled that,
because Greece is populated mainly
by Christians, it might need to import
non-Christians from outside the town
to lead non-Christian prayers—so that
those who believe differently won’t
“feel like outsiders.”
Alliance Defending Freedom attor-
neys have represented Greece officials
since the case began in 2008 (“The
Problem With Prayer In Greece, NY,”
Volume VII, Issue 1), arguing that there
is strong legal and historical precedent
for allowing deliberative bodies to
invoke the blessings of the Almighty
on their work, with the U.S. Supreme
Court itself affirming that right in
Marsh v. Chambers (1983).
“Opening public meetings with prayer
is a cherished freedom that the au-
thors of the Constitution themselves
practiced,” says ADF Senior Counsel
David Cortman. “Speech censors
should have no power to silence volun-
teers who pray for their communities
just as the Founders did.”
On April 3, the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
ruled 2-1 that churches can-
not continue to hold weekend
worship services in New York
City’s public schools. The case
centers on the litigation that
first started in 1995 when Bronx
Household of Faith, a small,
inner-city congregation, chal-
lenged a city-wide prohibition
on community groups using
empty public schools to con-
duct worship services. The legal
to-and-fro surrounding Bronx
Household has ranged through
every level of the federal courts,
as Alliance Defending Freedom
attorneys work to secure equal
access to public buildings not
only for that congregation, but
for other churches and faith
groups as well.
Despite the adverse ruling, Bronx
Household and dozens of other
churches are still able to con-
tinue meeting in public schools
while the case is on appeal.
Vol. II, Iss. 2 HOUSE OF HOPE
POINT AND SHOOT Vol. II, Iss. 1
U p d a t e s
A VICTORY FOR PUBLIC PRAYER
I n T h e N e w s
“If we lived in a state where virtue was
profitable, common sense would make us
saintly. But since we see that abhorrence,
anger, pride, and stupidity commonly
profit far beyond charity, modesty, justice,
and thought, perhaps we must stand fast
a little—even at the risk of being heroes.”
—Sir Thomas More,
A Man For All Seasons
It’s been nearly a decade since Jon and
Elaine Huguenin left home and fam-
ily to make their life in the West. They
moved to Albuquerque and opened a
photography business, specializing in
weddings. Jon handled the finances,
Elaine was the artist—and was good
enough at it to make her reputation, in
just a few years, as one of the best in
the city. Hers, people saw, was much
more than just a professional grasp of
light and focus and composition. She
had … the gift.
One day, she opened an email from a
woman asking if she‘d be willing to use
her photographic artistry to “celebrate”
a same-sex “commitment ceremony.”
Elaine said no. She didn’t make ugly
comments. She didn’t outline the biblical
doctrines that motivate her beliefs. She
didn’t question the morality of people
whose beliefs differed from her own. She
simply clarified what she did shoot—
“traditional weddings, engagements,
seniors”—and thanked the woman for
her interest.
Soon after, the Huguenins learned that
the state was investigating their compa-
ny for sexual orientation discrimination.
In 2008, the New Mexico Human Rights
Commission found their company guilty,
ordering them to pay nearly $7,000
in attorneys’ fees. Three other courts
approved that verdict before the U.S.
Supreme Court, this spring, declined to
hear her case.
Across these eight tumultuous years,
the Huguenins have suffered in many
ways—all because Elaine politely de-
clined to use her artistic talents to “cel-
ebrate” and commemorate something
she doesn’t believe in, but to which lots
of other local photographers would have
happily contributed their artistry.
And make no mistake—it wasn’t her
camera, but her creative talents that
the lesbian couple who contacted Elaine
wanted to enlist. They weren’t asking her
to adjust a lens and push a button, but
to invest a part of her heart and soul in
something that violates her conscience,
and her deepest biblical convictions of
right and wrong.
Elaine is a Christian. She understands
that marriage and its ceremonies should
reflect the teachings of the Bible, which
says God ordained marriage as the union
of a man and a woman. That under-
standing is not tangential to her art—it
is the essence of it.
A great photographer uses her imagi-
nation, her informed observations, her
personal understanding to capture not
only a scene, or a moment … but the
life within that moment. Its meaning,
its themes, its true character. That’s
why any great photograph is as much
a window into the soul of the pho-
tographer as it is into those people
preserved in the picture. In trying to
force Elaine to take their pictures, the
couple was asking her to sacrifice the
very elements that made her talents so
uniquely attractive to them. In suing
her, they penalized her for being what
they wanted in the first place.
And now, the courts of America are
allowing them to do this: to tinker with
the soul of an artist, in the hopes of
bringing that same art out of a very
different soul.
In an opinion supporting the ruling of
the New Mexico Supreme Court against
Elaine, one of that court’s justices said
that giving up the right to live accord-
ing to one’s conscience and religious
beliefs is “the price of citizenship” in
America today.
The price is going up. To secure Chris-
tians’ endorsement of their choices,
those pressing the new social agenda
are willing to suppress human dignity,
rewrite the Constitution, erase reli-
gious liberty, and close down our busi-
nesses. In time, if we persist in resist-
ing, even these will not be enough. On
the other hand, if we yield … the price
will continue to rise.
Accommodation, like freedom, never
comes cheap. Which is why we must
stand fast—and, like the Huguenins,
risk being heroes.
Doug Napier is Senior Counsel, Executive
Vice President, and Chief Alliance Officer
for Alliance Defending Freedom.
Doug Napier
18 | Alliance Defending Freedom
O p i n i o n
The Price Of Citizenship
Alliance Defending Freedom | 19
Pass on a legacy of freedom. Please contact Lisa Reschetnikow at 800-835-5233 or [email protected] to discuss your legacy giving.
TODAY’S PLAN TOMORROW’S PROMISE
“Knowing the God-honoring values and integrity of the leadership at Alliance Defending Freedom,
we are confident that they will be excellent stewards of our God-given resources.” —Laura and Neville V.