Supporters of the accused – call case the “evil Agenda of LGBT advocacy groups “BY PARTICIPATING IN THIS FIGHT AGAINST THE EVIL AGENDA OF HOMOSEXUAL ADVOCACY GROUPS WHO ARE TRYING TO DESTROY GOD’S PERFECT DESIGN FOR THE FAMILY: MARRIAGE=ONE MAN/ONE WOMAN!”

Melanie Nathan, August 09, 2012

Jury selection is to begin Tuesday in the criminal trial of a case pitting Christian extremists  against the judicial system and LGBT rights, where a pastor is accused of  aiding and abetting  the ‘ex-‘ lesbian mother turned Christian, who is now on the run to circumvent a custody order that favored her ex partner,  the non-biological mother.

After purposely avoiding court orders for shared custody and visitation, the Judge then ordered full custody  against the biological mother Lisa Miller, who refused to allow her ex-partner, Janet Jenkins, to see her child, Isabella, at all.   When it came time to hand over Isabella, Lisa Miller escaped the U.S.A. and sent the FBI on a chase, also seeking those from the Christian right had helped Miller to defy the Courts.

Kenneth L. Miller, 46, a Pastor and leader  of a Beachy Amish Mennonite church in Stuarts Draft, Va., is accused of helping Ms. Miller, no relation, to violate the custody orders, by aiding her flight out of the U.S. with her young daughter. The pair have been missing since September 2009 and are believed to be in Central America.

After Miller left her partner Janet Jenkins with whom she had entered into a civil union, she declared her sudden religious objection to same-sex unions.  She soon became a hero among evangelical opponents of same- sex marriage, who it is believed paid her way through the courts to challenge Jenkin’s parental rights.

It came as no surprise when her flight was tracked by the FBI to alleged co-conspirators such as the man now about to stand trial for aiding her escape from the U.S.A and her obligation to abide the custody order.

Federal agents eventually learned that mother and child had flown to Nicaragua, where they were hidden and looked after by missionaries of the Beachy Amish Mennonites sect who believe that same-sex marriage is a sin.

The case will show e-mails, telephone records and the deposition of the missionary in Nicaragua, where Kenneth Miller contacted a fellow pastor in Nicaragua to ask if he would buy one-way airplane tickets for Ms. Miller and her daughter, meet them at the Managua airport and arrange a place to stay.

Today while Janet Jenkins has not seen her daughter in years, Lisa Miller and Isabella remain at large, with Isabella Miller’s picture on the  list of missing and abducted children at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  Federal agents believe they remain in hiding somewhere in Nicaragua, possibly with covert help from conservative Christians.

It is hoped that the trial will shed more light on those who helped Lisa Miller to avoid the Court orders of the USA and that people will realize that there is no escaping the lawful rights of parents whether straight or gay.  While freedom of religion is a paramount value in the U.S.A. it cannot be exercised in isolation by trampling on the civil rights of others.

What marked this case as astounding is the constant support and defiance shown by right wing Church supporters against the judicial system. The groups continue to show their defiance and disrespect for the laws of the United States, by asserting that Lisa Miller’s religious beliefs ought to outweigh the legal rights of  her ex-partner and their daughter  under the law. Imagine the anarchy if we all could assert our beliefs as being paramount and above the law.

This is the message that members of the Christian right groups are putting out for alleged criminal Kenneth Miller:-

PLEASE SHOW YOUR SUPPORT!

• BY JOINING US FOR A DAY OF FASTING AND PRAYER ON BEHALF OF KEN AND HIS FAMILY ON AUGUST 9, 2012;
  By continuing to pray throughout the 7-day trial;
• BY DONATING ANY AMOUNT HERE:
• BY FORWARDING THIS EMAIL TO ALL OF YOUR CONCERNED FRIENDS;
• BY PARTICIPATING IN THIS FIGHT AGAINST THE EVIL AGENDA OF HOMOSEXUAL ADVOCACY GROUPS WHO ARE TRYING TO DESTROY GOD’S PERFECT DESIGN FOR THE FAMILY: MARRIAGE=ONE MAN/ONE WOMAN!
• BY ATTENDING THE TRIAL IN BURLINGTON, VERMONT they then quote GET INVOLVED! “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act. “Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Trial dates are now definite. The trial opens on Wednesday, August 8 and will run that day, Thursday, and Friday. There will be no proceedings on Monday, August 13. The trial will resume on Tuesday, August 14, and run through Friday, August 17. Daily schedule is as follows: Trial opens at 9:00 AM with an hour off for lunch at approx. 12:00-1:00, ending at approx. 5:00 PM. There is a short break in the morning and another break in the afternoon, so that the daily schedule will consist of two sessions in the morning and two in the afternoon.

All proceedings will be held in the Federal District Court in the Federal Building at 11 Elmwood Ave, Burlington, VT, Courtroom 542, Floor 5. The courtroom is open to the public and has about one hundred seats available. All guests should be prepared to go through security and have a photo ID available.

UPDATE – GUILTY!

Related articles

• Trial Due for Pastor in Dispute on Custody (nytimes.com)
• Minister on trial in international ex-lesbian child kidnap case (usnews.nbcnews.com)
• Defense: Pastor thought mom OK to leave US (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Defense: Pastor thought mom OK to leave US (cnsnews.com)