Reality Check 101

The Indiana legislature and Governor Pence surrendered to lies last week. In the face of mounting attacks against religious freedom in the land of the free, they had managed to sign into law a Freedom of Religion statute which mirrored laws in at least 30 states and existing federal law.

Three weeks before that another story hit West Michigan news when a Pastor dared to preach to his own congregation in his own church during his own service concerning an amendment to the church’s constitution (not anyone else’s constitution). The subject of his presentation was the nature of biblical marriage and sex.

During this same period of time the Sentinel joined the conversation with an editorial asking for compromise from all parties involved in the “gay rights” debate. The call for compromise by the Sentinel’s editorial board is understandable. But like those in the gay rights movement, their reasoning is built on another “hands up don’t shoot” style narrative.

But the definition of compromise used by liberalism does not understand the foundation of religious liberty. The left’s true definition of compromise has been overtly demonstrated by reactions to Indiana’s new law and Zeeland’s Pastor Echols’ fulfillment of his commission to care for his flock. Apparently compromise means a surrender by religious people of the ability to practice their faith in any public or private way, especially if they believe that homosexuality is an unacceptable lifestyle. For that matter, compromise means surrendering any activity that is not sanctioned by “progressive” ideology.   For that kind of compromise, it does not seem to matter what the realities are when it comes to constitutional and natural rights.

The Sentinel’s oped, the Zeeland First Baptist Church story and the Indiana religious freedom story handily demonstrate the tensions and mythical assertions involved. The contrast between the governors of Indiana and Michigan could not be more instructive. Governor Pence took the bold step to protect the exercise of religion as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution while Governor Snyder with conservatives at the helm pushes for the creation of a new sex-life civil right in collaboration with the gay rights lobby. One governor steps forward to defend the free expression of the soul and the other one the compulsions of the body.

It wouldn’t be quite so bad if it weren’t for those “hands up don’t shoot” style fantasies that fly in the face the facts. Discrimination? Really? Homosexuality has become one of the most protected human conditions in this country. There are no hetero-only lunch counters or homosexuals-to-the-back-of-the-bus cases. Try to find a hetero-only neighborhood association or the evidence of systematic financial disability. Where have the homosexual slaves been in our history? Search for the disparate treatment of homosexuals by law enforcement – harassment, false convictions, gay-punitive laws, fire hoses, dogs and billy clubs and see what you find. When was the last time a homosexual was denied proper medical attention or public housing without consequences?

The fact is that the published or litigated cases involving photographers, bakers or other businesses have not involved the denial of routine services to any person of any sexual style. The “violations” only surfaced when owners were purposely targeted and/or coerced into participating in and lending their names and reputations to a specific activity which violated their sacred consciences.

In reality the homosexual community lacks only one thing, the codification of their sexual behavior as a fabricated civil liberty. Their mission boils down to only two targets – the institution of marriage which defines legitimate sexuality within the natural family and government regulation of individuals living out their whole selves, including their souls, in the public square.

It is possible for a right to be absolute even if it may not have absolute power to practice evil. The free exercise of religion is absolute even if it does not include a license to gratify the lusts of the flesh, mind or heart. It is the expression of that immaterial part of us that God created to reflect His image. No man’s relationship with God kow-tows to political systems, courts or sexual fevers, no matter how powerful or popular they are.