ODD DOINGS IN OREGON

Oregon is a State which is both beautiful and very weird.

Weird because just about any city in Oregon West of the Cascade Mountains is a Hippy Haven. 

Oregon is the only state where hippies enjoy a majority at the voting booths come election time.

There’s a saying: “Hippies dont die. They just move to Oregon.”

During the past few years hippies have been moving to Oregon in droves because there is employment for hippies and they can go about in their tie-dye glad rags in public veiw with out being accosted, laughed at or abused. 

Oregon is a true hippy Haven. Under an oz. of pot isnt illegal here. 

The Cascade Range is full of small towns that have been the last refuge of the hippies since the beginning of the Seventies.

All of these little towns are lawless and have a long stading hippie tradition. 

You would not expect that with that type of resume Oregon would be a trend setter.  But you would be wrong.

Just consider the influence which the very liberal marijuana acceptance in Oregon has had upon the rest of the country.

Now comes another moment in Oregon which I fear will be repeated in diocese after diocese across the country in one form or another.

An event-hosting business is suing a Catholic parish in Oregon, arguing that the Church’s “homophobia” ruined the business.

The Holy Rosary Church in Portland, Oregon owns a large building with offices and an event center. 

The parish contracted Ambridge Event Center to manage the property from 2008 to 2015.

In February, 2015, the organization PFLAG Portland Black Chapter contacted Ambridge about using the space, and they were refused, citing the Holy Rosary Church’s request that LGBTQ groups not use the building.

“She basically told us that because we were an LBGT organization, the church doesn’t approve,” said Khalil Edwards, Director of PFLAG.

The contract between Ambridge and the parish includes a morals clause which doesn’t allow Ambridge to use the space for “any activity that would be offensive or disreputable to the owner.”

Ambridge said that the Parish “was explicit” that this means any LGBTQ group.

The resulting negative press reports that came from refusing to host the PFLAG event caused Ambridge to lose business, including government contracts.

“Even businesses and government entities that had previously scheduled events with Ambridge who were not affiliated with the LGBTQ community but had equity-driven internal policies, refused to work with Ambridge after reading or hearing about the discriminatory policy involved in its employment relationship with the Church,” the lawsuit says.

Ambridge offered to host the PFLAG chapter’s event for free and hired a gay man to try to counteract the bad press. But in December 2015, the parish issued a notice of termination of the commercial lease, effectively evicting Ambridge from the property.

The complaint says that this was retaliation for hiring a gay man and trying to make amends with PFLAG.

The relationship between Ambridge and the parish is legally complex and, consequently, unclear.

The original contract is written as if Ambridge is being hired as a property manager, but the notice of termination of commercial lease is written as if the relationship is that of a landlord and tenant.

The lawsuit, however, charges that state anti-discrimination law was violated either way. 

If Ambridge was working for the church, then the church engaged in employment discrimination.

If Ambridge was a renter who lost their property because they associated themselves with LGBTQ people, then the church engaged in housing discrimination.

Oregon law has an exemption for religious organizations, but it only applies if “the use of facilities is closely connected with or related to the primary purposes of the church.”

Ambridge, which has gone out of business, is asking for almost $2 million in lost income from the breach of contract and $250,000 to compensate them for improvements in the building. 

The company is also asking for attorney fees.

I am going to keep an eye on this story.  I believe we will be seeing similar lawsuits against the Church spring up across the country as the homosexual community continues to find every means available to them to attack the Church and anyone who does not accede to their behavior or radical political agenda.