clip:...America's conservative Christians have enjoyed more special rights than just about anyone else.
If you are a Christian -- or a person of any faith, for that matter -- your chosen religious lifestyle is protected by every conceivable anti-discrimination law in every state. You even get exemptions from some secular laws. And you can give tax-deductible donations to a church or religious charity engaging in political action, even the elimination of the rights of others.
Of course, the Constitution of the United States protects religious freedom. But what if we somehow had a winning popular vote that Christianity was no longer considered a religion? Just like that -- no more legal protections under the Constitution. Still would like some rights as a Christian person of faith? Just choose a different religion to believe in. Isn't that what you're always telling gay people ... just "choose" to be straight, and presto -- no more problems. Maybe you'd like to try that now.
If you are a Christian -- or a person of any faith, for that matter -- your chosen religious lifestyle is protected by every conceivable anti-discrimination law in every state. You even get exemptions from some secular laws. And you can give tax-deductible donations to a church or religious charity engaging in political action, even the elimination of the rights of others.
Of course, the Constitution of the United States protects religious freedom. But what if we somehow had a winning popular vote that Christianity was no longer considered a religion? Just like that -- no more legal protections under the Constitution. Still would like some rights as a Christian person of faith? Just choose a different religion to believe in. Isn't that what you're always telling gay people ... just "choose" to be straight, and presto -- no more problems. Maybe you'd like to try that now.
This article about the recent North Carolina anti-gay/lesbian plebiscite reiterates what I've been saying for some time.
ReplyDeleteInstead of trying to defeat these ballot questions that always pass which abrogate our 14th Amendment citizenship, our self-appointed leaders should have saved decades of man-hours and wheel-barrows of money by keeping our powder dry and saving our ammunition for a concerted court battle where, like in the Prop 8 history we've seen since 2008, our gay and lesbian citizenship has been upheld against clearly displayed religious animus, dogma, bigotry, and hate.
California was the first time that the flat-earth homo-haters had the chance to prove their assertions in a judicial setting framed by the rules of evidence and not a framed picture of their god. They failed to prove anything, even their witness list melted like the proverbial snowball in hell.
Freedom of religion is
respected in the USA and at the same time, religious freedom does not
trump the OTHER CIVIL rights such as my protection under the law
guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.
My arguments supporting our civil rights are really nothing that other supportive writers haven't expressed. Slowly gaining ground, I think, is the realization that our gay/lesbian civil rights movement must stop treating religion with awed obeisance and shuddering awe.