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When East Lansing officials told Steve Tennes he was no longer welcome to sell his apples and doughnuts at the city-run farmers market, he couldn’t believe it.
All it took to earn the government’s wrath was penning a social media post about his faith.
Last December, Tennes, who owns the Country Mill Orchard and Cider Mill in Charlotte, wrote a Facebook post explaining his family’s Catholic views on marriage, and how their deeply held beliefs are why his farm won’t host same-sex weddings.
The city’s response — banning him from its farmers market — reminded the former Marine of the time he spent near the border of North Korea. Tennes could see into the country, and it impacted him how people there live their entire lives in fear of the government.
That’s how he felt when he got the letter from East Lansing.
“I felt it in my gut. This isn’t real,” Tennes recalls.“We have freedom of speech in this country.”
Tennes felt especially betrayed that he was being denied rights he fought to defend while serving his country. His wife Bridget is a former Army nurse.
A farmer's market with a religious belief test. He can't sell apples because crimethink. They were more tolerant of religious belief even back in the old Soviet Union. Even Genghis Khan was more tolerant of religious belief.
This IMHO is a pretty clear cut violation of the Marine's civil rights. Perhaps it could be raised to the level of criminal violation.
Jacques: Farmer gets the boot over beliefs