🌈 Universal Rainbow Faith Open Letter Series on Religious Freedom

🌈 Universal Rainbow Faith Open Letter Series on Religious Freedom

An Appeal for Equality, Conscience, and Sacred LoveOctober 2025By Rev. Paula Josephine SadlerFounding Minister, Universal Rainbow Faith ChurchLas Vegas, Nevadawww.universalrainbowfaith.org

✉️ Cover Note: A Call for Equal Religious Freedom

To the citizens, clergy, and public servants of the United States of America —

The Universal Rainbow Faith Church (URF) was founded to affirm that all love is sacred and that gender, sexuality, and diversity are divine expressions of the Creator. We are a faith community devoted to healing division, uplifting the marginalized, and restoring the true meaning of freedom — not as a privilege for some, but as a birthright for all.

The recent Texas Supreme Court ruling (October 2025), which allows judges to refuse to perform marriage ceremonies based on “sincerely held religious beliefs,” represents a grave threat to that sacred balance. Under this policy, same-sex, interracial, or interfaith couples may face denial of service from government officials acting in the name of faith.

This is not liberty. It is the state establishment of one religion’s authority over all others.

Universal Rainbow Faith issues these three open letters — to the Supreme Court of Texas, to Judge Dianne Hensley (whose case gave rise to this precedent), and to First Liberty Institute and Texas Values (the organizations that advanced it). Each letter is written with both conviction and compassion, calling for a return to true equality of conscience under law.

💌 Letter One: To the Supreme Court of Texas

Universal Rainbow Faith Church953 E Sahara Ave Ste. E11ALas Vegas, NV 89104contact@universalrainbowfaith.org

To the Honorable Justices of the Supreme Court of Texas:

On behalf of the Universal Rainbow Faith Church (URF), I write to express profound concern and moral objection to your recent amendment to the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct, which now allows judges to refrain from performing wedding ceremonies based on “sincerely held religious beliefs.”

While this may appear to defend religious freedom, in truth, it undermines the very constitutional principles it claims to protect. By permitting judges—representatives of the State—to deny marriage services to same-sex couples, the Court has effectively established one religion above others, privileging doctrines that condemn same-sex unions while suppressing those that affirm them as sacred.

At Universal Rainbow Faith, we hold the deeply sincere and divinely inspired belief that love in all forms is holy. Marriage between two consenting adults—regardless of gender identity or orientation—is a sacred covenant of spiritual equality. When a judge denies such a couple the right to marry based on personal theology, it is not an act of religious freedom; it is an act of state-sponsored discrimination that infringes upon our own free exercise of religion.

This decision burdens the faith of inclusive denominations like ours by invalidating our theology and denying our members equal access to the state’s blessings of marriage. It also opens a perilous door to broader discrimination:

• A judge may claim religious grounds to refuse interracial or interfaith marriages.

• A judge may deny remarriage to divorced individuals.

• A judge may invoke “belief” to exclude people with disabilities.

Such a precedent contradicts both Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) and Loving v. Virginia (1967), which affirm that marriage is a fundamental right and that equal protection under the law cannot be compromised by prejudice cloaked as faith.

We respectfully urge the Court to reconsider and rescind this rule, or at minimum, clarify that religious exemptions cannot be used to deny constitutionally protected rights or to favor one faith tradition over another.

The Universal Rainbow Faith Church stands ready to provide testimony, interfaith support, and expert theological input on this matter. Our mission is rooted in reconciliation and truth — but silence in the face of injustice would betray both.

With sincere respect,

Rev. Paula Josephine SadlerFounding Minister, Universal Rainbow Faith Church702-810-9831 | contact@universalrainbowfaith.org

💌 Letter Two: To Judge Dianne Hensley

Dear Judge Hensley,

I write to you not as an adversary, but as a fellow seeker of faith and conscience.

I understand that your decision to refuse to perform same-sex marriages was born from your sincerely held beliefs. I do not question your sincerity. But I ask you to consider something deeper — the spiritual harm caused when faith is used not as a bridge of compassion, but as a wall of separation between souls seeking love.

As the Founding Minister of the Universal Rainbow Faith Church, I serve a community that believes marriage between two consenting adults, regardless of gender, is a sacred act of divine recognition. When a couple in love is turned away by an agent of the State acting in the name of God, the message sent is not of holiness, but of rejection — not of righteousness, but of exclusion.

The God I know, and the Christ I follow, taught love without condition, healing without judgment, and compassion without hierarchy. When faith is weaponized to divide, we risk losing the very essence of its truth.

I do not write to condemn you. I write to invite you into reflection.Because religious freedom, when true, is mutual — not selective. It must protect your right not to marry same-sex couples, but it must equally protect my right to sanctify them. If your belief is sacred, so is mine.

Our scriptures, our hearts, and our shared humanity remind us that love is of God — and that no human law, robe, or doctrine should stand in the way of love’s divine unfolding.

May we both seek a world where conscience is guided by compassion, and where faith, instead of justifying division, leads us toward unity.

With respect and prayer for your journey,

Rev. Paula Josephine SadlerFounding Minister, Universal Rainbow Faith Church

💌 Letter Three: To First Liberty Institute and Texas Values

To the Leadership of First Liberty Institute and Texas Values:

As the Founding Minister of the Universal Rainbow Faith Church (URF), I am writing to you regarding your continued legal and public support of Judge Dianne Hensley and your advocacy for policies allowing Texas judges to refuse marriage ceremonies based on “sincerely held religious beliefs.”

Your organizations have positioned these efforts as victories for religious liberty. Yet I must, in conscience, tell you that what you are defending is not liberty — it is privilege.

When you advocate for one group’s religion to be shielded from accountability while silencing the faith of others, you are not expanding freedom. You are narrowing it. You are redefining “religious freedom” as the power to impose one interpretation of God’s will on all who seek equal treatment under law.

At Universal Rainbow Faith, our sincerely held belief is that love between any two consenting adults is sacred, and that marriage — whether same-sex, heterosexual, interfaith, or interracial — is a divine covenant reflecting the unity of creation.By supporting laws that allow state judges to deny this covenant, you are violating our religious freedom and the freedoms of every inclusive denomination that blesses these unions as holy.

You claim to defend people of faith. I ask you to remember that LGBTQIA+ people are people of faith too — pastors, rabbis, ministers, parents, and believers who live with courage and conviction every day. The difference is that we do not seek to use our beliefs to deny others their rights.

The work of justice requires more than litigation. It requires conscience, humility, and compassion. It requires recognizing that a freedom that harms another is not freedom at all — it is a spiritual distortion.

I urge you to reconsider your stance, to engage in dialogue with affirming faith leaders, and to acknowledge the diversity of belief that exists within the American religious landscape. We are not asking you to change your theology — only to stop using the law to enforce it upon others.

Let us work toward a society where faith can flourish in harmony rather than conflict — where religious freedom means mutual respect, not selective protection.

May we all remember that the truest expression of liberty is love without fear and faith without domination.

With sincerity and hope for reconciliation,

Rev. Paula Josephine SadlerFounding Minister, Universal Rainbow Faith Church

🌈 Closing Statement

The Universal Rainbow Faith Church stands united with all who believe that love is sacred, equality is divine, and freedom of religion must never become freedom to discriminate.

We submit these letters to history, conscience, and the courts of both law and spirit — in defense of all who love, all who believe, and all who dare to live authentically in the light of truth.

Rev. Paula Josephine SadlerFounding Minister, Universal Rainbow Faith Churchwww.universalrainbowfaith.org