Church Of Malphas is saddened that Arizona has become the first state to pass a bill permitting business, even those that are open to the public to refuse to provide service to LGBT people based on an individual’s ‘sincerely held religious beliefs.’ Think about this. A bus can refuse to allow a LGBT individual on. A supermarket can refuse to sell food. A hotel can deny a room. Restaurants can refuse to serve them.
Church Of Malphas accepts the rights of all individuals to live their lives to the fullest and nobody should tell anybody who they can love, as long as it is between two consenting adults.
In Arizona, there is not law that states that a restaurant has the legal right to turn away a heterosexual rapist or murderer. However that same restaurant now has the legal right to turn away an individual based on who they love. We are not discussing that Charles Manson can legally get married in Arizona, but a LGBT couple can not.
This is the 21st Century. There are so many religions, and sexual life styles what right does any human being have to pass judgement on another? What next? Will a Christian turn away a Hindu because they don’t agree with their religious beliefs? How about a African American turning away a Asian individual?
Church of Malphas accepts all no matter what their nationality, religious beliefs or sexual preferences are. We are about helping one develop one’s spiritual path, and in order to do so, one must become connected and accept one’s self first and part of that is accepting one’s gender identity and sexual preference.
The Board Of Church Of Malphas as well as our clergy have unanimously agreed, not to boycott Arizona as have been suggested by our members. By Church Of Malphas boycotting Arizona we will only hurt our Church Members in that state as well as hurting those organizations that we work with. Church of Malphas’ clergy and services will be needed more now than ever in this state as discrimination runs rampant and destroys the spirit of the LGBT community. We will offer our services to any organization working to fight this as well as the LGBT community, as we stand by them.
In 1989 Arizona voted down recognition of the Martin Luther King holiday, and as a result, conventions and tourists boycotted the state, and the NFL moved the Superbowl to Pasadena. That was a $500 million mistake.
Church Of Malphas prays that Governor Jan Brewer does not sign this bill into law. A bill that takes away the basic rights of human beings being able to be who they are without having doors slammed in their faces.
We also say a prayer for the world and can not understand why people still have this kind of mentality, and how it appears we are turning back the clock to when African Americans had to sit in the back of the bus or drink from a separate water fountain.
