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"Why I am defending the farmer tossed out of a Michigan farmer’s market for his traditional views on marriage."

If America prides itself on being the land of the free, then why is it that we abolish people for sharing their view in a public place? A man by the name of Steve Tennes, owns Country Mill Farms in Charlotte, Michigan. The city of East Lansing tossed him and his family out of its farmer’s market when they learned that Steve had posted on Facebook that he still adhered to the teachings of the Catholic Church, that he believes marriage is a sacred union between one man and one woman. Steve also adheres to the Church’s teaching that every individual, as a child of God, has immense dignity and worth and should be treated as such. Thus, he treats all his customers and employees just so. Unfortunately for Steve, His beliefs about marriage were different than the city’s, and because he had the nerve to state them publicly, Steve and Country Mill had to be banished. The article reads, "It used to be a common American value that everyone had the freedom to live and speak without government coercion. But that value apparently does not extend to a person who respectfully expresses one particular viewpoint on marriage in the public square." It seems that the government even affects something so seemingly innocent like a farmers market these days. This article makes you really wander if we are truly free. If one man simply states his beliefs and suddenly he is torn away from his lively hood, what will happen next? Steve runs a second-generation family business, he was a regular farmer just doing his job. His company, Country Mill, grows apples, blueberries, peaches, cherries, sweet corn, and pumpkins. It hosts numerous community and charitable events. And it has sold its produce at the East Lansing Farmer’s Market for many years. In fact, from 2011 to 2016, the city expressly invited Country Mill to participate in the market as an “invitational vendor” because of its exceptional service. Whether religious, agnostic, or atheist, no individual should be forced to choose between the government’s orthodoxy or withdrawing from the public square. That is one of our country’s founding principles. And that is why Steve’s case is so important, not only to Michigan citizens, but to people everywhere. We can only hope that federal courts continue to uphold the right for everyone to speak and act in accord with their conscience without being punished by the government for doing so.