In a new video in its Stoplight series, Focus on the Family’s CitizenLink outlet has revealed its backward understanding of nondiscrimination protections that are LGBT-inclusive. In the clip, Stuart Shepard explains to CitizenLink President Tom Minnery that when there’s a “tie” between Christians and other people that are protected, the Christians “lose.” Among his examples is the Oregon bakery that was found in violation of state law for refusing to provide a wedding cake to a same-sex couple:
SHEPARD: ….The Oregon civil rights law also lists religion as a protected class, but activists are leveraging those laws to push Christians right out of business. When it’s a tie, the Christians lose.
I’ll start by issuing a disclaimer: Yes, I recognize that the knuckle-dragging troglodytes I’m about to ridicule are outliers who don’t come close to representing a majority of Christians. That said, I can’t for the life of me understand why good and decent Christians hold their collective counsel when it comes to those Right-wing zealots who wield their “Christian” faith like a club. If Jesus could chase the money changers out of the temple, couldn’t honest Christians step up and call out those who bastardize Christianity in the name of hatred and bigotry?
Just sayin’….
It’s ridiculous and it should be difficult- no , well nigh impossible- to claim the mantle of persecution when 80% of Americans self-identify as Christians- especially when Christians can be found at all levels of government and industry. For clarification, then, let’s revisit the definition of “persecution”:
Yes, persecution does involve doing mean, nasty, horrible things to a class of people because of their race, religion, or beliefs. One thing worth keeping in mind is that “the persecutions of Christians by the Romans” is fundamentally different than what’s being claimed by today’s American Taliban. Christians were a pronounced minority when they were persecuted by the Romans. For most of the period of Roman rule, Christians were considered irritants. They certainly couldn’t claim the support of 80% of the Empire’s population.
What fundies today are crying about is that they’re not free to oppress and discriminate against those whose lifestyle and/or beliefs they abhor. They don’t understand why we all just can’t seem to recognize that being Christian means being a morally superior being, and non-believers and other apostates deserve to be crushed for defying God’s will.
Or at least God’s will as they define it, which conveniently enough meshes beautifully with their fears and prejudices. Funny how that works out, no?
Oregon’s civil rights law is simply a recognition that one class of people shouldn’t be able to deny goods and service to another when they provide those goods and services to the general public. You don’t get to pick and choose whom you’ll do business with based on lifestyle, sexual preference, and/or beliefs. Not so very long ago, Americans were doing the same thing to African-Americans. Isn’t it about time we stopped finding ways to divide and began finding ways to love one another?
Civil rights aren’t “special” rights…and I’d love for someone to explain how hatred and bigotry are “family values?”
What the American Taliban wants is the absolute right to oppress and discriminate against whomever they deem to be “less than.” Whether it’s the LGBT community, Liberals, non-Christians, or any other group, they honestly believe themselves morally superior to all others because they adhere to The One True Faith. As such, they assume their “enlightened” status gives them carte blanche to enforce their will on those lost and misguided souls unfortunate enough not to share their fears and prejudices. That doesn’t translate to nondiscrimination protections constituting discrimination against Christians. It simply means that Christians can’t discriminate based on…well, take your pick of divisive categories.
Fortunately, here in America you don’t get to deny goods or services to a class of people based on who they are, what they believe, and/or who and how they love. You may call yourself a “Christian,” but that doesn’t ipso facto translate to you being a better and more worthy person. It doesn’t mean much of anything, really.
If you believe homosexuality is a sin, then good on you. Don’t have a sexual relationship with someone of your sex. No one’s going to force you to do something you believe to be wrong or “icky.” That doesn’t mean you have the right to use your prejudice as justification to deny someone the right to live as an equal human being.
Refusing to tolerate your intolerance is NOT intolerance. It’s merely recognizing the value that American society (and our legal system) put on “live and let live.” If you honestly believe your faith should be enough to allow you to discriminate against those you consider “less than”…well, I hear Iran, Somalia, and Pakistan are beautiful this time of year.
