Press opinion: Heres a Hitching Post solution Posted 3 hours ago We can point fingers, trade insults and throw copies of the U.S. Constitution at one another. Then when we’re ready to actually solve a problem, we can bring in our favorite mediator, Pastor Chuck. Yes, we’re invoking the good reverend’s name again because Pastor Chuck Wilkes is as well-versed in statutes as in biblical passages. We introduced him to readers after the primary election last May because his perspective is rare, if not unique in these parts. Pastor Chuck is a longtime attorney whose father was a minister. For more than two decades, Pastor Chuck was a Colorado lawyer; for six years, he worked as both a lawyer and a minister. Before becoming senior pastor of True North Church in Hayden in 2010, he served as minister of the Nazarene Church in Leavenworth, Wash., then in the Spokane Valley. He’s still licensed to practice law in Colorado. Because of those dual credentials and because Pastor Chuck is a community uniter, rather than divider, we asked him to weigh in on the hysteria over Hitching Post in its potential conflict with the city of Coeur d’Alene’s anti-discrimination ordinance. Rather than pick sides, the goal was to find a solution that would satisfy both the law and the people on both sides of this contentious subject. Here’s the legal analysis Chuck shared: “The Hitching Post does not offer a primarily religious service to the general public; rather, it offers a service as an agent of the state to conduct legally recognized marriage ceremonies. The fact that the proprietors do so by invoking religious features to the ceremony is irrelevant to the core conduct. As such, the owners fall under the same rules as other business owners offering goods and services in the public marketplace. It is well established law that when the legislature or the court, interpreting various constitutional provisions, establishes the rights and privileges of certain classes of citizens, the mere invoking of a religious objection to the established classifications is not an acceptable defense to non-compliance. “The real issue is not whether the Hitching Post is for-profit or not-for-profit. It’s the service provided that is impacted by the ordinance. When one enters the public arena, one is governed by those rules… whether conducted as a for-profit organization or not. As [City Attorney] Mike Gridley points out, there is a pretty protective safe harbor for religious organizations conducting religious activities. Those activities have been traditionally exempt from the rules of the public arena. The confusion arises because most of those religious activities are conducted by not-for-profit, tax-exempt organizations. So, some confuse the nature of the organization with the nature of the services provided.” And here’s the possible solution Pastor Chuck offered: “The simple solution for the Hitching Post is to withdraw from operating as an agent of the state and to limit itself to conducting religious weddings only. As such, an entirely different legal process comes into play. Many countries follow this process… churches conduct religious ceremonies, civil authorities conduct legal ceremonies. The Hitching Post could simply conduct a religious ceremony for anyone it chooses (or doesn’t choose) and then refer the bride and groom across the street for a civil ceremony.” If a solution rather than a national ad campaign is the goal, Pastor Chuck’s proposal merits consideration. Who is Pastor Chuck Wilkes? Read: cdapress/news/local_news/article_0b86bd2e-7ba3-5834-9549-96c225ff5af8.html
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 11:45:49 +0000
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