As CBN News previously reported, the situation unfolded after the preacher posted his moral and religious concerns online, expressing his beliefs about a church that purportedly supported same-sex marriage and a drag queen performance in front of kids.
Penkoski also reportedly posted on Facebook about a lesbian couple’s wedding ceremony, sharing a church’s public picture of the gay nuptials; one of the women is allegedly the executive board president for Oklahomans for Equality Bartlesville.
Romans 1:32 was allegedly shared along with that posting. This Scripture reads (ESV): “Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”
As The Christian Post noted, Matthew 18:6 was also shared, which proclaims, “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”
The lesbian couple reportedly sought a restraining order over the assertion the verses and postings were threatening, though Penkoski has denied that claim. A five-year protective order was granted by a judge after the couple expressed fears over their safety.
The ruling found, according to court documents, Penkoski “in a knowing and willful manner, conducted a pattern of conduct which a reasonable person would believe to be harassment and would therefore suffer substantial emotional distress. And it has actually caused substantial [emotional] distress to the plaintiffs in this case.”
Whitehead believes this order runs afoul of the First Amendment and is asking the Oklahoma Supreme Court to overturn it.
“He can be put in jail, fined, taken away if he says anything in terms of Bible verses or anything dealing with these LGBT people that felt threatened by one of the Bible verses,” Whitehead said. “He never approached anybody physically or contacted them directly. He just posted on social media.”
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