Camera Angles

NOVEMBER 2018

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Vo l u m e X I , I s s u e 4

ADF Friends Celebrate 25 Years Of Crucial Legal Ministry PA G E 5

Why Unjust Laws Can Be Challenged Before They’re Enforced PA G E 17

What Happened When A Professor Addressed A Student By The ‘Wrong’ Gender PA G E 19

Camera Angles Two Christian Filmmakers Ask State Officials To Respect Their Artistic Expression

Alliance Defending Freedom

CONTENTS 9

COVER STORY

November 2018 Vol. XI, Issue 4

9

Editor

Camera Angles

Filmmakers Ask State Officials To Respect Their Artistic Expression

Karen Kurtz

Senior Writer Chris Potts

Art Director/Photography Bruce Ellefson Jonathan Marshall Miroslav Skorykh

Contributors

COLUMNS

5

17

2

Minutes With Michael

3

News & Quick Takes

5

Special Feature

8

Christmas With The Farris Family Singers

Case Updates From Around The World

ADF Friends Celebrate 25 Years Of Crucial Legal Ministry

Alliance Profile

Vernadette Broyles

17 Opinion

21

Michael Farris James Gottry Sarah Kramer Dr. Nicholas Meriwether Charles Snow

Why Pre-enforcement Challenges Are Working For ADF Clients

19 My View

Wrong Address

21 Q&A

Where Are The Daniels?

Facebook.com/AllianceDefendingFreedom Twitter: @ADF_Magazine Instagram.com/AllianceDefendingFreedom YouTube.com/AllianceDefends

Questions or comments on this issue?

Email Editor@ADFlegal.org.

15100 N. 90th Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85260

ADFlegal.org

| 800-835-5233

Referral to websites not produced by Alliance Defending Freedom is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement.

Minutes With Michael

Christmas With The Farris Family Singers

By Michael Farris

W

hen I was 3 years old, our family packed up our home in Arkansas, leaving much of our extended family there.

We bypassed the rest of our extended family in Colorado and made for what became the home of my childhood, adolescence, and college years — Washington state.

When we left the South, gone were the large holiday celebrations with family members bustling. Holidays became a much quieter time — just my three siblings, my parents, and myself. That upbringing shaped who I am today … and the type of family I would one day lead.

Today, the holidays are a crowded time in the Farris household. My wife, Vickie, and I are blessed to host a home overflowing with 10 children, their spouses, and 22 grandchildren. Nearly all of our children live near us, and the rest usually make it home for Christmas.

As with most of you, Thanksgiving and Christmas for us means sharing meals, and gifts, and even some of the all-too-human elements of large family gatherings. Spilled drinks. Bumped heads. Lots of dirty dishes. Noise. Noise.

And a bit more noise.

and listening to three generations reciting the scriptures together makes my heart melt with joy.

Second, my two oldest daughters and I wrote the “official” Farris family Christmas song about 30 years ago.

It’s about the Advent wreath. I tune my guitar, and we tune our hearts to sing praise.

B

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ut we do two things as a family that are truly special to me. First, when several of our children were very young, we gave them a special task: memorize and recite the story of Jesus’ birth from Luke 2 on Christmas Day. That tradition has grown as our family has. What was once a handful of voices has become dozens proclaiming the Word of God and the story of our Savior’s birth. Watching

Here is the first stanza:

Burn little candle, burn so bright, Burn little candle ‘til Christmas night.

Five weeks of Advent, they go so fast, Five reminders of the Holy past.

Burn little candle, burn for me, Lighting up my Christmas tree.

You remind us that on this sod, Once there walked the Son of God. ogether, these two traditions provide distinct memories each holiday season. To be blessed with a family that knows and loves the Lord is a true gift from on high.

Whatever your family traditions during the holiday season may be, I pray that you and yours will have a happy Thanksgiving, a merry Christmas, and a wonderful beginning to the new year ahead.

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News & Quick Takes

Washington, D.C. ADF Vice President of U.S. Advocacy Jeremy Tedesco testified Sept. 27 at a U.S. House subcommittee hearing entitled “The State of Intellectual Freedom in America.”

Case Updates From Around The World

“ADF is committed to cultivating a society typified by the free exchange of ideas and respect and tolerance for those with whom we disagree,” Tedesco told the joint Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice. “But, sadly, several of the most influential technology giants are endangering the vitality of these core American principles.

Hawaii In September, a federal district court struck down a state law forcing pregnancy centers and pro-life doctors to advertise for the abortion industry, in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision affirming free speech in NIFLA v.

Becerra. The Supreme Court ruled in June that California pro-life pregnancy centers (represented by ADF attorneys) cannot be forced to promote messages with which they disagree.

ADF has been targeted by tech giants closely allied with the Southern Poverty Law Center. Earlier this year, Amazon excluded ADF from the AmazonSmile program — which allows customers to donate a small percentage of their purchases to a charitable nonprofit — solely because the SPLC incorrectly labels ADF a “hate group.”

“No one should be forced by the government to express a message that violates his or her beliefs, especially on deeply divisive subjects like abortion,” said ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot, Vice President of the ADF Center for Life.

Atlanta, Georgia In October, the city of Atlanta agreed to pay its former fire chief, Kelvin Cochran, $1.2 million in the wake of a December 2017 court ruling that found some of the city’s policies that led to his termination were unconstitutional.

The court determined that Atlanta’s rules restricting non-work speech, like the book for Christian men that Cochran wrote, were too broad and allowed city officials to unconstitutionally discriminate against views with which they disagree.

Cochran wrote a devotional book on his personal time that briefly mentions his Christian views on sex and marriage. The city suspended Cochran without pay in 2015, suggesting that his Christian views made him discriminatory toward LGBT individuals.

Though a city investigation found no evidence supporting that, officials fired him anyway.

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A school’s top priority is to protect the safety and bodily privacy of its students, period. Decatur School’s policies have created a stressful, unfair, and, as in this case, even unsafe environment — particularly for girls.

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Vernadette Broyles, ADF Allied Attorney

Decatur, Georgia The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights began an investigation in September into the City Schools of Decatur, Georgia, on behalf of a 5-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted by a male classmate in her school restroom.

The investigation stemmed from a complaint filed by ADF staff and an Allied Attorney that indicates the attack was facilitated by the school’s new transgender restroom policy.

Norway In October, the Supreme Court of Norway set a new precedent on freedom of conscience in the medical profession. The court found that Dr. Katarzyna Jachimowicz acted within her rights when refusing to follow through with a medical procedure to which she had a moral objection.

United Kingdom

In 2015, a family clinic in Sauherad fired Dr. Jachimowicz for refusing to insert intrauterine devices (IUDs), which can act as abortifacients.

In the British counterpart to the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision, the UK Supreme Court unanimously ruled October 10 in favor of Ashers Bakery, a Christian-run company that declined to design a cake advocating support for same-sex marriage. An ADF International legal ally represented Ashers Bakery in this important case.

Romania

Argentina In August, Argentina’s Senate voted against legalizing abortion on demand.

Abortion advocates pushed the government to introduce a “right to abortion” that could deny medical professionals the right to conscientiously object to participating in abortions.

After the bill was introduced, the Argentine Senate invited ADF International and other human rights experts to comment on the proposed legislation. Neydy Casillas, Senior Counsel for ADF International, drew attention to Argentina’s obligations under international law to protect life and to ensure that medical professionals have the right to conscientious objection.

More than two years ago, 3 million Romanians supported a civic initiative to define marriage as the union between one man and one woman in their constitution. In early October, Romanians were finally able to cast their vote. The referendum did not pass, as the overall voter turnout did not meet the threshold necessary to pass the referendum.

However, more than 90 percent of voters affirmed that marriage should be defined as the union of one man and one woman.

“With this level of public support, the referendum sends a clear signal to those who attempted to stand in its way,” said Adina Portaru, a Romanian lawyer who works as Legal Counsel for ADF International in Brussels.

No one should be forced by the government to express a message that violates his or her beliefs, especially on deeply divisive subjects like abortion.

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Rights of Conscience Case Updates In August, Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado, filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Colorado challenging the state’s renewed effort to punish him because of his faith. The lawsuit was filed on the heels of a June U.S. Supreme Court ruling that already chastised the state for its antireligious hostility toward Phillips.

The case of Christian printer Blaine Adamson is before the Kentucky Supreme Court. Adamson, managing owner of Hands On Originals, declined to print shirts promoting a gay pride festival because the shirts’ message violated his conscience.

The festival’s sponsors filed a discrimination complaint against Adamson, and the ensuing boycotts and smear campaign cost him several longstanding customers.

The Washington Supreme Court is reviewing ADF briefs on behalf of floral artist Barronelle Stutzman.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court sent Barronelle’s case back to the Washington high court, vacating that court’s earlier decision and instructing it to reconsider her lawsuit in light of the recent decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop.

The Arizona Supreme Court will soon decide whether or not to hear the pre-enforcement challenge filed by Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski, owners of Brush & Nib Studio, who specialize in creating custom artwork for weddings and other events. The two Phoenix artists face fines and up to six months of jail time if they violate a criminal law that city officials say forces them to produce artwork expressing messages that violate their core beliefs.

Kevin Theriot, Vice President, ADF Center for Life 4

Special Feature

ADF Friends Celebrate 25 Years Of Crucial Legal Ministry

By Chris Potts

J

anuary will mark a quarter century since Alliance Defending Freedom debuted as an organization committed to funding the legal defense of life, marriage and the family, and religious freedom. Born out of the shared concern of dozens of major ministry leaders that Christians were losing crucial ground in the courts, not even the most perceptive of those leaders could anticipate the ferocious and farreaching legal battles of the coming years.

Nor could they anticipate that the little ministry they had prayerfully founded would move so quickly to the front line of those battles, establishing itself as the most influential and effective Christian legal organization not only in the United States, but around the world.

As ADF prepares for bigger celebrations in the months ahead, a few of its most celebrated allies and veteran team members share their appreciation for the good work and decisive impact of an organization God is using to shape the future of religious freedom in America.

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1994

Alan Sears speaks at the public launch of ADF, during a breakfast session of the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Washington, D.C.

1995

ADF provides funding for the Rosenberger case, a critical U.S. Supreme Court victory that led to numerous other First Amendment wins.

ADF has been the leader in this country in protecting religious liberty and protecting a proper interpretation of the Constitution, particularly as it pertains to religion and morality.

Edwin Meese III 75th Attorney General of the United States When I first saw ADF, it was a half-dozen folks and a copying machine crammed into a few square feet. I recall thinking: “start-up Christian ministry … I wonder if it will go anywhere.” Now I know: ADF has been blessed with the opportunity to keep the door open for the Gospel across the globe, and that is a rare blessing indeed!

2005

ADF provides critical assistance to Ake Green, a Swedish pastor facing prison time for preaching a message of grace on same-sex sexual activity.

A conviction could have had an ominous effect on religious freedom worldwide.

Gary McCaleb Sr. Counsel, VP of Center for Family Values, ADF

From a one-person shop with meager funding came a ministry that stands today as a major advocate for life, liberty, conscience, and family across the globe.

John 15:5. Only God could do this.

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Alan Sears, Founder of Alliance Defending Freedom For a decade or more, I have addressed Blackstone Fellows at their summer orientation. I look out and see a thousand or more years of lawyering each summer, tens of thousands of hours spent defending religious liberty and the free-exercise rights of all Americans. And I’m inspired. ADF is the front line of religious liberty, now and in the future.

Hugh Hewitt law professor and nationally syndicated radio talk show host As ADF celebrates 25 years of ministry, our entire team at Focus on the Family joins them in rejoicing over all God has accomplished through their vital efforts. Never before has our country seen so many threats to religious liberty. We pray the Lord grants ADF many more years in service defending faith and freedom.

2007

ADF goes to court to save the life of Jesse Ramirez (center), who faced certain death after his food and water were removed prematurely.

2008

The first ADF Pulpit Freedom Sunday unites pastors nationwide in challenging the Johnson Amendment’s unconstitutional limits on sermon content.

Jim Daly President, Focus on the Family ADF is leading the fight to protect our fundamental religious liberties, helping people of faith stand up to militant, intolerant secularism.

I’m proud to be associated with this effective organization.

Michael Medved nationally syndicated radio talk show host and author This is not an easy time for Christians and other religious believers in the United States. ADF has done, and continues to do, heroic work in protecting our nation’s legacy of religious freedom. As a champion of religious liberty under the law, its role is irreplaceable.

Charles J. Chaput O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Philadelphia

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ADF has been blessed by God to build an amazing team that has an absolutely sterling reputation for excellence and success. Our past is a wonderful prelude to a future of increasing freedom.

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M i c h a e l F a r r i s , P r e s i d e n t , C E O, a n d G e n e r a l C o u n s e l , A l l i a n c e D e f e n d i n g F r e e d o m

Ten years ago there was no ADF International. Today we have offices in eight countries, and more than 500 open legal matters in over 50 countries. It has been truly breathtaking to see what God has done this past decade, and how He has led ADF to become a truly global ministry.

2010

Paul Coleman Executive Director, ADF International

ADF is granted special consultative status at the United Nations, and ADF International is launched.

Reminding Americans of our Christian heritage was a priority for my dad. I’m thankful to ADF for their commitment to the great principles that our Founding Fathers gave us. I appreciate their effort to ensure our Christian liberties are not lost. May God bless you as you continue to fight for the freedoms we enjoy.

Jennifer Kennedy Cassidy

2012

ADF opens its first international office in Vienna, Austria.

2015

In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of ADF client Clyde Reed, who faced unconstitutional restrictions that severely limited his church’s ability to inform citizens of weekly worship services.

Daughter, ADF Founder Dr. James Kennedy

I began praying about what role God would have for me at ADF the day I met Alan Sears in 1999. It has been a great privilege to experience the ADF growth and success for the past 17 years.

Glen Lavy Corporate Counsel, ADF For the last 25 years, Alliance Defending Freedom has been an invaluable ally in the fight to protect and advance the cause of religious liberty. As they turn toward the future and begin the process of expanding their work internationally, I am encouraged that they will be at the front of advancing the cause of religious liberty for all peoples.

Russell Moore President, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention I count it a high honor to have served most of my 25-year career at an organization that prioritizes the two greatest commandments — loving God and loving others. I can’t think of a better place to work.

Kevin Theriot Sr. Counsel, VP of Center for Life, ADF Prior to the founding of ADF, the ACLU was running roughshod over Christian schools, businesses, and families. When I heard that my friend Alan Sears was willing to help us start a new organization to defend Christians, I immediately contacted him and asked if I could help. It was one of the best decisions I have made in 42 years of ministry. I thank the Lord for the accomplishments of ADF to this day, and I shudder to think where this nation would be without it.

James Dobson ADF Founder, Founder of Focus on the Family and Family Talk

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Alliance Profile

Vernadette Broyles

By Sarah Kramer

W

hen she first made plans to attend hoping that someone else had replied Harvard, Vernadette Broyles intended first. No one had. “My first thought was, to earn a doctorate in molecular biology.

‘What have I done?’” she remembers, God changed her course. A few years later, laughing. she graduated from the university as an As she began working with parents attorney. impacted by the school board’s decision, “I always was the one who could not though, she saw how God had been stand it when someone was being picked putting together the pieces for her to be on,” she says, “or when some sort of an effective advocate on this issue. Her injustice was going on. I hurt when other science background, for one, has been people hurt.” an invaluable foundation in the fight to Vernadette went on to open a practice preserve privacy and safety for children in family law, dealing with custody and in the City Schools of Decatur. adoption issues. But over time she began But it is more personal than that. to feel called to do more to help preserve A month after a school board meeting the family as an institution, not just deal on this policy, the unthinkable happened. with the consequences of its breakdown A 5-year-old girl was sexually assaulted in the culture. That’s when David French, by a male classmate in the girls’ restroom. a friend and former Alliance Defending According to the school’s gender-identity Freedom attorney, told her about ADF. policy, he was allowed to be there.

Not long after, she became an ADF Allied The story hit Vernadette particularly Attorney. hard — she herself had been victimized In 2017, Vernadette received an email by a sexual predator at school as a young from ADF asking for a local attorney to girl. “I realized I have a unique voice with help with a situation in Decatur, Georgia. which to speak to the dangers, the trauma, The City Schools of Decatur had passed a the realities, and the implications for policy allowing students who identify as the the vulnerability of girls by policies that Vernadette Broyles opposite sex to use the restrooms, locker expose us like this,” she says. rooms, and overnight accommodations Though it’s been a difficult road, it’s that align with their perceived gender clear how God has directed Vernadette’s identity. And they had done so without parental steps — from her personal experiences, to her education, notification — simply posting the announcement on to her passion to seek justice and protect the vulnerable.

Facebook for moms and dads to stumble onto by chance.

And she chooses to follow His call in faith.

Vernadette quickly dismissed the situation as “I feel like God is asking me to trust Him with the something she was not qualified for — but it nagged at ache in my heart,” she says. “If I do, He can release His her. Later that day, she reluctantly replied to the email, power in the pain.”

I always was the one who could not stand it when someone was being picked on.

‘‘

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Camera Angles Cover Story

Two Christian filmmakers ask state officials to respect their artistic expression

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he table is 12 feet long, made of solid, shiny, well-polished pine. It was a steal of a deal on Craigslist. Over the last 7 ½ years, its smooth surface has seen a lot of the kinds of wear and tear most family tables see in their lifetime — countless meals and spills, elbows clean and dirty, homeschool homework and craft projects, newspaper smudges and stray church bulletins.

But it’s the underside of the table that tells the real story: of a lively, unpredictable family of 10, their assorted friends and relations, and the hundreds of strangers, hungry for home cooking and camaraderie, whose knees have jostled theirs across the last seven years or so.

Scribbled in Sharpie on the bottom of the table are names — more than a thousand, now — of those who’ve passed this way … to pass the time, the mashed potatoes, a few opinions and a little wisdom, their old war stories and their nagging questions. To discuss and debate, argue and laugh, and learn a little more of the great and enduring mystery of what makes other people tick.

The table and its memories belong to Carl and Angel Larsen, whose kitchen has become a kind of cultural crossroads of central Minnesota. They were still newlyweds, most of 20 years ago, when they first started inviting the world home for supper.

“It was abnormal, being 22 and having people over to dinner,” Angel says, remembering the first meals they hosted in their home. “Sometimes, it was super awkward, like When Worlds Collide. But the Lord stretched us.” They learned how to keep conversations going, even with those with whom they had nothing in common.

They found that they liked the challenge, and the fellowship with an increasingly diverse group of people. In time, it became a regular thing: inviting neighbors, college students from church, strangers they met in a store or on the job, newlyweds struggling to adjust to married life.

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Carl and Angel Larsen

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People in your home get to know you … you can’t keep up a façade.

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Carl Larsen

A nearby map is covered with marks of another kind, indicating every country in the world that’s been represented at the Larsens’ table. Very little of the map is still unscratched, and, on the table, autograph space is getting hard to come by.

“It’s so fun to be able to lay underneath it and just see all the hundreds and hundreds of names,” Angel says.

“We love it,” Carl says. “We go to a lot of effort to be sure we’re exposed to people who are different from us … who hold different political views, different religious backgrounds, or are members of the LGBT community.

We love having people in our home who don’t agree with us — getting to know them, and doing life together.” The interactions, he says, keep their family’s faith honest.

“People in your home get to know you … you can’t keep up a façade.”

“It makes our lives richer,” Angel says. “Now, my kids think it’s normal. So if we go — even for just a day or two — they’re like, ‘Who are we going to have over for dinner? It’s just us? Awww. …’”

Sad to say, among those who have not yet enjoyed the Larsens’ inexhaustible hospitality are certain government officials, who seem determined to feed this family a strict diet of political correctness … and to take their constitutional rights off the table.

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he Larsens run a film production company, and a very successful one. For years, Carl has been in wide demand as a cameraman, director, lead editor, and director of photography — running everything from

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the Major League Baseball All-Star concert to industry festivals to major ministry events, creating graphics and podcasts and editing programs for businesses and churches, and directing live events for the most recognizable names in Christian and country music. Carl is the chief editor, producer, and artistic director of their films, while Angel stands behind him, she says, “trying to think like the client.”

“It’s a really collaborative thing,” Carl says. “She makes everything better.” They are their busy company’s only two regular employees. “We’ve intentionally stayed small,” he says. “It’s us, from day to day, and we add in team members, as needed, depending on the project.”

They named their company “Telescope Media Group” because telescopes “help us see things for what they really are,” Carl says. “Our goal was not just to use our talents to point people to Jesus, but to give them a better perspective on who He really is.”

A few years ago, the Larsens came to a kind of artistic fork in the road. They realized that, for all of their success in multiple areas of film production, there was one kind of storytelling, in particular, that they wanted to focus their talents on. And that, in Minnesota, is the one kind of storytelling the state says they can’t do unless they are willing to violate their conscience.

WATCH:

Hear the Larsens’ story in their own words at ADFlegal.org/fj-Larsens

“

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e want to tell marriage stories,” Carl says. “We want to tell stories about the glory of God in marriage — because not many people are, and we think there are stories there that are worth being told. We want to tell stories that glorify God, and marriage is made to do that.”

The institution has become an increasing focus of the Larsens’ lives over the last several years, and it’s brought a whole new slew of guests to their kitchen table. They’ve done premarital counseling with couples from their church, and provided a listening ear for peers and acquaintances struggling through marriage problems. Carl has even officiated at a few ceremonies.

“I think marriage is largely misunderstood,” he says. “Our view of marriage has been formed by the Bible, and what the Bible teaches on marriage is that it’s really a vehicle for us to understand who God is. It’s a beautiful picture that God’s given us. He calls Himself the bridegroom and we’re the bride, we’re His people. He even describes His relationship with the church in terms of marriage.

“This is a central issue to the Gospel,” Carl says. “The Bible begins with a wedding in the garden, and it ends with a wedding feast. Marriage gives us an opportunity to see God in a way that we otherwise wouldn’t see if we didn’t have it.”

So, while they hope to continue directing events and filming concerts, Carl says, the couple’s passion is “to tell stories that are going to matter for eternity … stories about the glory of God in marriage.”

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nfortunately, the Larsens’ growing enthusiasm coincided with the rise of government hostility to people of faith, especially concerning their biblical views on marriage. The couple began to hear stories of Christian wedding professionals — cake designers, floral artists, musicians, photographers — being forced to create expression that celebrates same-sex weddings even though communicating that message violated their religious beliefs.

“We began asking colleagues and other professionals, ‘How do you handle this situation?’” Carl says. “And I didn’t like the options I was hearing.” Some had simply stopped doing weddings altogether. Others had given in and begun celebrating same-sex ceremonies through their films. Still others, if asked, pretended to be busy with other projects, or just deliberately bid themselves out of the market.

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Everyone—regardless of whether they’re religious or not—has the right to be free from the government coercing them to say things they don’t want to say.

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A D F S e n i o r C o u n s e l J e re m y Te d e s c o

The Larsens talked about taking their chances and hoping for the best. But “the risk is too great,” Carl says.

“We didn’t want to just wing it. We decided, if we’re going to do this, we’ve got to know what our legal standing is.”

No lies, no dodging, no compromise. “We want to be consistently faithful in our relationship with Christ.”

That decision led them to Alliance Defending Freedom, whose attorneys came to the Larsens’ home and laid their legal cards on the kitchen table.

“The Minnesota Human Rights Department has said that state law requires the Larsens to create films celebrating same-sex marriages if they create films celebrating marriage between a man and a woman,” says ADF Senior Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “That violates Carl and Angel’s beliefs. They can’t tell those stories.”

Nor are state officials inclined toward the tolerance they themselves require, Tedesco says. The Human Rights Department has been “very aggressive” in asserting its stance, with officials declaring their intention to enforce the law with criminal penalties — meaning the very real possibility of multi-thousanddollar fines and even jail time, should the Larsens enter the wedding industry and tell only those marriage stories that are consistent with their religious convictions.

That didn’t leave the couple many legal options.

But it did leave them one.

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n America, you don’t have to wait to be punished or thrown in jail to seek justice,” Tedesco says. “Under these circumstances, the law allows the Larsens to challenge the law before it is enforced against them.”

And make no mistake, applying state law to force the Larsens to create films they disagree with is unjust.

“A government that tells you what you can’t say is bad enough,” Tedesco says. “A government that tells you what you must say is even worse. The state can’t force people to express messages that violate their deepest convictions. Just this year, the Supreme Court said this kind of government-compelled speech is ‘always demeaning.’”

The Larsens prayerfully weighed the implications of filing the challenge, against the solid, mutual conviction that God was calling them to use their gifts in a particular way — and that the government was blocking them from heeding that call. They decided to take legal action.

“I feel Telescope Media Group was created for such a time as this,” Angel says. “I never anticipated it to come to this point, but … I want to help my children preserve their religious freedom, and if I don’t do something now, I’ll look back and totally regret it.”

“

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n December 2016, ADF filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Larsens to protect their right to create films that are consistent with their religious beliefs. Almost immediately, the roof caved in.

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“We received death threats, violent emails,” Carl says.

“People tried to post our family pictures and our address online. We didn’t leave our house for a week.” It was a fearful time for the parents of eight children — and the Larsens were astonished at the ferocity of the response.

“We’ve come to a place in our society where you’re considered evil if you disagree,” Angel says. She remembers looking through emails that accused her of every kind of bigotry. “You don’t even know me,” she thought of those sending the cruel notes. “It was pretty intense for a while.” Nevertheless, the Larsens opted to remain a visible, vocal part of their community.

“If you’re going to change a culture, you have to be in it,” Angel says.

“They’re an incredibly loving couple,” says their pastor and close friend, Matthew Molesky, who marvels at the variety of ministries — small groups, college fellowships, house-cleaning, charity garage sales — the Larsens continue to help lead. “They’re always willing to

express love in practical, concrete ways,” he says.

“Always very, very quick to move to meet needs. They genuinely love people.”

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WATCH:

n anticipation of their first hearing before the court, the Larsens prepared a sample wedding video to show the kind of religious messages about marriage they want to express through their films, and why their religious beliefs are so critical to their creative process. Despite the illustration, though, a federal judge dismissed the Larsens’ lawsuit.

The judge ruled against the Larsens’ free speech and free exercise of religion claims because he wrongly viewed the Larsens and their films as mere conduits for other people’s speech.

See the sample wedding film the Larsens created at ADFlegal.org/fj-Wedding

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“The Larsens aren’t the equivalent of a security camera,” says Jake Warner, ADF Legal Counsel with the Center for Conscience Initiatives. “They speak their own messages through their films — messages they control by exercising significant editorial control over their projects from beginning to end.” The court showed no appreciation for storytelling decisions, the artistic aspects of interviews, the choices of lighting and angles, or the myriad editing choices the Larsens make in creating their films.

“Artistic output is incredibly personal,” Carl says.

“There’s an aesthetic, a perspective, in everything you do — that’s baked into the process. You’re directing things, making a choice about the speech, the point of view, and what it communicates.” ADF appealed the

ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, which heard arguments in the case in October.

“If we lose, it’s a loss for everyone,” Carl says — including those whose beliefs don’t match his own. He and Angel have been encouraged by colleagues who, while rejecting their views on marriage, understand — and share — the couple’s desire not to be forced to communicate a message they disagree with. “When we frame this law as ‘compulsion,’ people get it,” Carl says.

“I want everyone to be free to create, and free to express themselves in a way that’s consistent with their beliefs.”

“Obviously, we want to win on [the Larsens’] behalf,” Tedesco says. “But the bigger picture is, we want to secure freedom for everyone. Everyone — regardless of whether they’re religious or not — has the right to be free from the government coercing them to say things they don’t want to say. It’s not a freedom that’s unique to our clients. It’s a freedom that’s essential to the American experience … and if we win this case, we win that freedom for everyone.”

“ADF does what they do so that others can continue to do the work they feel called to do,” Carl says. “It’s a privilege to stand with them.”

“They are our extended family,” Angel says. “Far more than that — it’s a friendship.”

T

he Larsens’ case moves forward. They continue to minister to those around them, and to make all the quality films they can — apart from the films they want to make about marriage. They know that, for the moment, they’re fighting an uphill legal battle, even in a country that has always prized freedoms of speech and religious expression. They are at peace that the legal path they’ve chosen is the best way to defend those freedoms — for themselves, for their children, even for those whose beliefs are very different from their own.

And they have no illusions of what they’re up against. Angel, for one, says she even knows what the opposition’s strategy will be.

“They’ll say, ‘You guys are intolerant.’” She casts a fond glance at her kitchen table, and its thousand signatures. “Yeah,” she smiles. “Nothing could be farther from the truth.”

If we lose, it’s a loss for everyone — I want everyone to be free to create, and free to express themselves in a way that’s consistent with their beliefs.

‘‘

Carl Larsen 15

I want to help my children preserve their religious freedom, and if I don’t do something now, I’ll look back and totally regret it.

‘‘

Angel Larsen

Angel Larsen addresses a crowd gathered in Washington, D.C., to support ADF client Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop.

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Opinion

Why Pre-enforcement Challenges Are Working For ADF Clients

By James Gottry

Pre-enforcement lawsuits are exactly what they sound like ... lawsuits filed before a law is enforced. Why before?

I

magine a law is passed that unconstitutionally restricts your First Amendment guaranteed rights.

For instance, imagine a law that requires pro-life pregnancy centers to provide free advertising for the abortion industry. (This example is, of course, all too real.) Violating this law will result in large fines or other punishment. You might understandably be reluctant to exercise your rights, for fear of being penalized.

This is called a “chilling effect,” and it’s one reason that courts allow pre-enforcement lawsuits. If a law threatens your constitutional rights, you shouldn’t have to wait until you’re facing punishment in order to challenge it. Pre-enforcement lawsuits enable you to ask a court to evaluate a law before it is enforced against you.

Groups like Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have long used this strategy to advance their objectives — for example, challenging laws regulating abortion before they take effect. In recent years, Alliance Defending Freedom

and its clients have increasingly used this legal mechanism, too, to defend freedom of speech and belief for people of faith. Here’s how it’s working.

Protecting the unborn by protecting pro-life pregnancy centers

I

n June 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in NIFLA v. Becerra, finding that Americans cannot be compelled by the government to express messages that conflict with their beliefs. This lawsuit, filed by ADF on behalf of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), was a preenforcement lawsuit. It challenged a California law that required pro-life pregnancy centers to post signs pointing the way to state-sponsored abortion services.

If a law threatens your constitutional rights, you shouldn’t have to wait until you’re facing punishment in order to challenge it.

‘‘

J a m e s G o t t r y, A D F D i r e c t o r o f M a r k e t i n g a n d L e g a l C o u n s e l 17

NIFLA supporters gather on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on March 20, as justices inside the court hear oral arguments in NIFLA v. Becerra.

Without a pre-enforcement lawsuit, dozens of prolife pregnancy centers in California might have been forced to choose between: 1) violating the law and risking the legal consequences, 2) promoting messages that conflicted with their very reason for existence, or 3) closing their doors. Thankfully — for the centers and the women they serve — a successful pre-enforcement challenge made that choice unnecessary.

Protecting religious freedom and freedom of conscience for creative professionals

A

my Lawson is a photographer and blogger in Madison, Wisconsin. She learned of a local ordinance and a state law that would require her to create photographs and blog posts promoting proabortion groups and same-sex marriages — if she created content that promoted pro-life organizations or marriage between a man and a woman.

Amy didn’t want to be forced to leave her beliefs at home; she also didn’t look forward to being sued for living and working in ways consistent with her faith.

She contacted ADF, filed a lawsuit challenging the city and state laws … and won. The court ruled that Amy and her business would not be subject to the laws.

These are just two of a growing number of preenforcement lawsuits that ADF and its clients are filing. With results like these, you’ll understand why ADF is using this strategy to defend its clients’ religious freedom — and yours. ADF is currently representing Brush & Nib Studio in Arizona, 303 Creative in Colorado, and Telescope Media Group in Minnesota (among other clients throughout the country) as they challenge unconstitutional laws in their states.

ADF is no longer content to wait for religious freedom to be taken away before standing in its defense. Because, with pre-enforcement challenges, it doesn’t have to.

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My View

Wrong Address

By Dr. Nicholas Meriwether

O

ne of my delights as a college professor (now in my 22nd year) is helping students engage the great minds of the past. For instance, Aristotle — arguably the most brilliant philosopher in human history — and his doctrine of the mean, which says that for most actions, there is an excess, a mean, and a deficiency.

Applied to the teacher in the classroom, the doctrine of the mean would go something like this: the mean is engaging students seriously and vigorously with mutual respect. The excess is attacking and belittling students like a psychotic drill sergeant. The deficiency is placating their misconceptions and confusion for the sake of popularity and acceptance. I had never dreamed how applicable Aristotle’s doctrine could be until last spring.

Just back from a sabbatical, I was teaching a class in political philosophy. At the end of the first day, a student raised his hand and I acknowledged him with a “Yes, sir.” (In keeping with the Aristotelian mean, it’s my custom to address my students as Ms. or Mr. — the better to foster an atmosphere of seriousness and mutual respect.)

After class, the student approached me to explain that he in fact identified as a woman, and expected me to refer to him from that time on with feminine titles and pronouns. I hesitated. I knew, of course, that there is a nationwide push to require faculty to recognize transgender identities. I was just a little dismayed to

find myself thrust into the thick of the controversy on the very first day of class.

“I’m not sure I can do that,” I told him.

The student did not appreciate my hesitation. He began to pace in circles around me, his voice rising and taking on an edge. He suggested an unprintable name he might feel free to call me, if I declined to indulge his demands. More than that, he said, he would see to it that I lost my job.

H

is tone and demeanor were threatening enough that I contacted a security officer, who advised me to report the incident immediately to the Dean of Students. By the time I’d had a chance to do so, the student had already filed a formal complaint. I offered to begin referring to him by his first or last name, but the dean of my college balked at that.

I explained that my unwillingness to oblige the young man stemmed from my religious beliefs about gender identity (“male and female He created them” — Genesis 1:27). I asked that the school respect my convictions and allow me to continue living and teaching in a way consistent with my faith. My dean, however, denied that request.

I pointed out that compelling me to pretend that a student born a man was in fact a woman meant forcing me to speak and promote a view that I believe to be a potentially harmful lie — something I found

I was just a little dismayed to find myself thrust into the thick of the controversy.

‘‘

D r. N i c h o l a s M e r i w e t h e r 19

untenable as an ethics teacher, much less as a Christian.

My dean didn’t accept that argument, either.

A few weeks later, the university launched a fullon investigation of charges that I was violating the school’s nondiscrimination policy.

In the end, administrators determined that, by using his given name, rather than “Mr.” or “Ms.,” I had treated the student differently than other students — and created a “hostile learning environment.” That was all. No other allegations of bad conduct or differential treatment were ever filed.

The dean placed a letter of discipline in my file — an action that can lead to termination if other such events occur. I, in turn, filed a grievance against the university for violating my First Amendment protections of speech and religious freedom. (My grievance was denied.)

Dr. Nicholas Meriwether in his office at Shawnee State University

The Christian viewpoint is hopelessly under-represented in academic circles.

‘‘

D r. N i c h o l a s M e r i w e t h e r

A

s someone who studies politics and culture, I am deeply familiar with how much things have changed in recent years — particularly among college students. I hear them in class. I read their essays. I’d guess that, even just a few years ago, no more than 15–20 percent of my students showed support for the LGBT agenda. Today, I’d put that number at closer to 60–70 percent. For these, the once-clear lines between “treating all people with dignity” and “affirming whatever behavioral choices a person wants to make” are becoming increasingly blurry.

Things have changed for teachers, too. In the past, many faculty members believed instructors should be free to teach in ways respectful of their personal beliefs. But the growing dominance of the Progressive Left and identity politics have left little support for that idea. While some have tried to encourage me,

WATCH

Learn how ADF’s Center for Academic Freedom is defending free speech rights on university campuses at ADFlegal.org/fj-Academic

most of my fellow professors seem to have absorbed transgender ideology — and a demeaning attitude toward anyone who doesn’t.

But knuckling under to that ideology plays directly into a growing effort to silence, even eliminate, conservative and Christian professors from college campuses. And that’s a loss to everyone. Universities need a broad range of views, thoughtfully presented and debated, to provide a context for honest disagreement.

Right now, this isn’t happening. The Christian viewpoint is hopelessly under-represented in academic circles, while the Progressive Left is just as hopelessly over-represented. Which — beyond the personal injustice to me — is the primary reason I’m pressing my case against Shawnee State University, represented

by Alliance Defending Freedom.

My hope is that this case, and others like it, will secure some measure of freedom — for Christians in general, and for other professors, in particular — to live out their faith in the public square.

For reasons of both accuracy and advocacy, ADF respectfully chooses to refer to the student in this story by his birth sex.

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Q&A

Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin ‘Where Are The Daniels?’

By Chris Potts

Still in his first term as governor of Kentucky, Matt Bevin has already emerged as a national champion on behalf of religious liberty and child-welfare providers, as well as a true friend of Alliance Defending Freedom, submitting amicus briefs supporting several key ADF Supreme Court cases of recent years.

A U.S. Army veteran and former president of Bevin Brothers Manufacturing Co., Bevin was a successful investment manager in Louisville before becoming governor in 2015. Since taking office, he has pushed to ensure that women considering abortions see the ultrasound of their unborn child, and signed a law limiting abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy. He has also signed bills supporting charter schools and Bible classes in public schools, and protecting the First Amendment freedoms of students in public schools.

Recently, Alliance Defending Freedom was honored to have Governor Bevin address the ministry’s 2018 Summit on Religious Liberty.

F&J: You asked the people in your audience that night a crucial question. What was it?

F&J: You said that realization led to your own decision to enter politics. What else inspired you?

MB: Several years ago — before I had done anything politically, except support candidates and maybe write a check from time to time — I wrote a letter to a person in the faith-based community, and I literally asked in this letter, “Where are the Daniels?”

MB: Martin Niemöller said, “We have, all of us — the whole church and the whole community — been thrown into the tempter’s sieve. And he is shaking, and the wind is blowing, and it must now become manifest whether we are wheat or chaff. Verily, a time of sifting has come upon us.”

I was concerned about what’s happening to young people in America, and the ways in which people are confused and think that up is down and in is out and right is wrong.

I was wondering, “Where are the people willing to step up, to defy the rules, based on a principle?” To say, “I’m not going to eat the king’s food (Daniel 1:8),” or whatever modern-day equivalent might exist.

That time of sifting is upon us again. But it’s coming in an environment in which we are comfortable enough to be able to ignore it. We must not ignore it. We can’t afford to let someone else fight the battle. We must be engaged.

Where are these people, and what is the faith-based community doing to really get behind such people, to find such people, to put such people forward? Cultures and civilizations crumble from within. The underbelly becomes soft; apathy creeps in. We are in such times.

We’re blessed with so much that we can afford not to care and still live comfortably. That’s the beginning of the end.

21

If we aren’t willing to give some modern-day version of our “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor” … then we don’t deserve a better America.

‘‘

Governor Matt Bevin

Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin speaks at the closing banquet of ADF’s 2018 Summit on Religious Liberty.

Find Governor Bevin at www.governor.ky.gov Twitter: @GovMattBevin

But how badly do they want it?

What are they willing to give up for it? Think of the people who came to this country seeking religious liberty, risking their lives to establish a better life. The people in Valley Forge. Those who stepped off transport carriers on Omaha Beach — wave on wave, trying to free a nation that wasn’t even their own. Do we want it that badly?

If we don’t want it that badly, if we aren’t willing to give some modernday version of our “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor” … then we don’t deserve a better America.

The men at the Constitutional Convention, struggling with this idea of “How do we form a government? What will it look like?”, asked George Washington to be part of finding that solution. Exhausted from fighting the Revolution, legend has it he replied, “Have I not done enough for my country?” But he joined the Convention, anyway — and history shows that his being there made all the difference.

All of us are tired. All of us have other things to do.

But not one of us could say what Washington said with a straight face. Not one of us. “Have I not done enough for my country?” We need to do more. And we need to have a heightened sense of urgency, because indeed, as was written, a time of sifting is upon us.

F&J: You talked about the call to personal sacrifice, in reviving religious freedom for our country.

MB: If people support ADF, I would assume it’s because they want some better version of where we are now … some restoration to the foundation of this nation, a return to a time when some equivalent of “lives, fortunes, and sacred honor” was being given and demanded of people. I’d assume they want a better life for their children and grandchildren, a better state in which to live, a better country, better government, a better sense of reconnection to people’s spiritual foundations.

No matter how much we’re giving — the time, talent, treasure, or other things — I would challenge each of us to give more. Not just to give more of ourselves, but to find others like ourselves. There is strength in numbers. Our state motto in Kentucky is “United we stand, divided we fall.” We need to find others. Every one of us knows one, three, five, 10 other people who might be supporters of this alliance. Are we doing enough? Have we done enough for our country?

F&J: As a governor, how would you encourage ADF amid the legal conflicts of the culture war?

MB: It’s been said that “Most people in life miss opportunity, because it usually shows up in overalls and looks like hard work.” That is true. So I pray for my children, that they would have discernment, wisdom, and understanding to know the difference between right and wrong. It is my prayer for ADF and its allies, as well. But knowing what’s right is the easiest part.

The second thing that I pray [is] that, in addition to knowing the right thing to do, we would have the courage of a Daniel, to actually do that right thing. The doing is the hard part. So I pray that we will give every last measure within us, of whatever resources we have been blessed with, so that we can, at some point in our lives, say, “Have I not done enough for my country?”

22

“The work ADF does in training, equipping, and mobilizing thousands of conservative Christian lawyers is a vital part of assuring that the ministry of ADF will continue long after the founding generation is gone. We are pleased to have an enduring part in this legal defense of the Christian values upon which our nation is founded.”

— Harold & Joan S.

Pass on a legacy of freedom.

Please contact Lisa Reschetnikow at 844-233-6692 or LegacyGiving@ADFlegal.org to discuss your legacy giving.