An Illinois Christian couple is refusing to back down from their position to not host the same-sex weddings, even after they were fined for $80,000 by the Human Rights Commission over a complaint filed against them by a gay couple in 2011.
Jim and Beth Walder cited Acts 5:29, "it is better to obey God than men," as the reason they are standing firm in their decision.
They were ordered by an administrative law judge to pay Todd and Mark Wathen $30,000 -- $15,000 each -- for emotional distress, and an additional $50,000 in attorney's fees.
After the ruling, Todd Wathen said in a statement: "We are very happy that no other couple will have to experience what we experienced by being turned away and belittled and criticized for who we are."
The Wathen couple had contacted the Timber Creek Bed & Breakfast in Paxton, Illinois, to inquire about the possibility of hosting their civil union ceremony in 2011. In response, the Walders wrote: "We will never host same-sex civil unions. We will never host same-sex weddings even if they become legal in Illinois. We believe homosexuality is wrong and unnatural based on what the Bible says about it. If this is discrimination, I guess we unfortunately discriminate," according to LifeSite News.
The Wathens filed a complaint with the Illinois Human Rights Commission after the inn owners refused to be intimidated by their threat of lawsuit, and referenced the Bible, saying that the "[Bible] trumps Illinois law, United States law and Global law should there ever be any. Please read John 3:16."
The Walders said that they only described the inn policy to the same-sex couple, and that it was not a state-owned place.
"We cannot host a same-sex wedding even though fines and penalties have been imposed by the Illinois Human Rights Commission. Our policy will not be changing," they said.
The Walder couple emailed a statement to the Ford County Record, saying that they will not host same-sex weddings despite law suits and fines.
"Evidently, religious freedom does not exist within the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act or the Illinois Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act," the statement read. "In our opinion, neither the state of Illinois nor the U.S. Supreme Court has the authority to tamper with the definition of marriage. God alone created marriage and declared thousands of years ago that it was to be between a man and a woman. Not two men. Not two women. We may be out of step with an increasingly anti-Christian culture, but we are in compliance with God's design, and that is what ultimately matters."
