A 77-year-old great grandmother has settled an eight-year-old legal battle over supposed discrimination against homosexuals. Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene’s Flowers, Bellevue, Washington, was sued in 2013 after refusing to serve a same-sex couple’s wedding on the grounds of her religious convictions. They could have gone to practically any other florist, but they wanted to make the point that they are proud of their homosexuality and everyone should be required to celebrate their lifestyle. As a Baptist and a Bible-believer, Stutzman is opposed to same-sex marriage and refuses to participate in it. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) took the side of the couple and has been hounding Stutzman ever since, even going after her personal assets. Her appeals were twice rejected by the Washington Supreme Court, which obviously resonates to a different law than the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights. In the settlement, Stutzman will pay $5,000 to the homosexual men and sell the business to her employees. She told Fox News that Christ had “walked with me every step of the way.” She said, “I am willing to turn the legal struggle for freedom over to others. At age 77, it’s time to retire and give my business to someone else. I wish the culmination of all that I’ve been through could result in a new respect, culturally and legally, for freedom of conscience in our country. From the beginning, I have asked no more than the freedom to act in accordance with my religious beliefs and personal convictions. I have treated those who persecuted me with respect, and with the assurance that I want for them the same freedom that I ask for myself. We’re all in trouble–whether we’re religious or not–when we don’t have the freedom to live consistent with our faith and our beliefs, when I don’t have the freedom to run my business according to my beliefs, live my life according to my beliefs.” When asked what she would tell others facing similar lawsuits, she said, “God’s just asking us to be obedient and He’ll take care of the rest.” Her legal counsel is Alliance Defending Freedom, which has also defended two Christian businesses in Colorado that have been targeted by homosexuals.
(Friday Church News Notes, November 26, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)