On Religious Liberty

One of the more frequent news topics lately has been the spate of so called “religious liberty” bills that are being proposed (and in some cases) passed in various state legislatures.  The primary supposed justification for these bills is to permit business owners to refuse to serve or accommodate same sex couples on grounds that they have a religious objection to the lifestyles of those said couples.  For instance, if a baker has religious beliefs that same sex marriage is forbidden by the Bible, he or she could refuse to bake a wedding cake for a same sex wedding and he or she couldn’t in turn be sued for discrimination for doing so.  Many of the legislators who are behind these “religious liberty” bills were the same folks who were behind constitutional amendments to ban same sex marriage just a few years ago.  Those laws and amendments have been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.  So, since those legislators “lost” that battle, they are trying to fight it under the auspices of “religious liberty.”

Now, I’m all for freedom of religion, the freedom to worship or not worship how you choose.  It’s a constitutional right guaranteed by the First Amendment and was one of the principles upon which our nation was founded.  However, the Fourteenth Amendment also says “nor shall any State deprive any person of…liberty….nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”  I realize that many conservatives dislike the Fourteenth Amendment, but just because they dislike it doesn’t mean they can ignore it.  It is a valid, ratified amendment to the Constitution just as much as the First Amendment or Second Amendment.  Regardless of your political persuasion – whether you are conservative or liberal or libertarian or somewhere in between – I think we can all agree that part of the point of the constitution is to grant us freedoms and rights and protect us from those who would do away with those rights.  As such, I think it is common sense to say that your First Amendment rights don’t trump someone else’s Fourteenth Amendment rights.

However, the “liberty” piece is only part of the equation.  The other part is the religion aspect.  Most of the time, it is Christians citing verses in the Bible that purport to speak out against homosexuality.  Some of those are in Leviticus and the Old Testament, while others are in Paul’s letters in the New Testament.  However, as Christians, we are called to follow Christ’s example.  So, what did Christ say about gays or gay marriage?  Not much.  True, there are some passages where He speaks of marriage in terms that would indicate only heterosexual marriage (Matthew 19:4-6), but He never expressly speaks out against homosexuality in the way that Paul does.  More importantly, it is important to look at how Jesus treated others during His ministry, even those who were deemed by others to be sinful.  Whether it’s the Samaritan woman at the well or the corrupt tax collectors, Jesus didn’t shun anyone.  He may not approve of their lifestyles, and in many cases instructed them to repent and change their ways, but He treated them with respect.  I believe that we are called to follow that example.

I could be wrong, but I don’t think that God is going to condemn a baker for baking a cake that happens to be for a same-sex wedding or a hotel owner who books a ballroom for a same-sex wedding reception.  Just because you provide a service to someone with whose lifestyle choices you disagree, that doesn’t mean you are condoning their lifestyle choices.  It simply means that you are doing your job and treating people fairly.  All of us have to do things in our jobs that we may not necessarily agree with but we must do as a part of being employed.  (I won’t even get into the topic of whether or not this is a “lifestyle choice” in the first place, as opposed to something determined by genetics.)

I believe that churches should be able to control who can and cannot participate in their various rites and sacraments – that the government shouldn’t intercede on that front.  But if you are a business owner who is in the business of serving the public, you should not be allowed to refuse service to someone because of their sexual orientation any more than you can their race, gender, religion, etc.  If you cannot abide by those standards, then you should pick a different profession.

Too often, the many good deeds and positive accomplishments of Christians are overshadowed by our missteps and I think this another example of this.  We are called to be the light of the world and to minister to others, but our efforts to do so are undermined when we are more focused on condemning the actions and choices of others than we are with spreading the Good News.

Fortunately, Missouri decided not to pass the religious liberty bill that was on the floor this spring.  Here’s hoping that the issue doesn’t get brought up again in future years and that other states follow suit.

Thanks for reading!