Religious Liberty Does Not Preclude Gay Rights
Rod Dreher, in The Dallas Morning News Religion blog, sees an irreconcilable clash between civil rights for homosexuals and religious liberty of traditionalist churches. Dreher doesn't offer any examples of such conflicts. None of the matters currently in the press (e.g., California's Proposition 8 reserving "marriage" for one man, one woman), seem to impose any burdens on traditionalist churches. I see three areas that Dreher might have in mind.
First is whether the government should discriminate against gays with respect to marriage. For me, the answer is clearly, no. Regardless, churches aren't directly impacted by this. It doesn't change what happens inside the church doors at all.
Second is whether private businesses and institutions should be allowed to discriminate against gays. Again, to me, the answer is clearly, no. A restaurant should not be allowed to turn customers away because they are gay. An employer should not be allowed to deny employment to an applicant because he or she is gay. Again, churches aren't directly impacted by this. It doesn't change what happens inside the church doors at all.
Third is whether churches should be allowed to discriminate against gays. In this case, I say Constitutional freedom of religion says they should have this right. If they want to deny the priesthood to gays, deny the sacrament of marriage to gays, or even deny membership to gays, they should have that right.
The only gray area is when churches run secular institutions, like charities, that serve the public at large. The courts are already involved in cases disputing whether a church-run charity can discriminate on the basis of religious belief. If there isn't already a case involving discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, I'm sure there will be, sooner rather than later, whether or not gay marriage is legally recognized or not. So far, the courts seem to draw the line at whether the function served is primarily religious or primarily secular. That seems about right to me.
Sex Really Is Like An iPod
Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas preached a sermon last Sunday titled "Why Gay is not O.K." Advertising the sermon on the church's outdoor sign attracted about a hundred demonstrators to Sunday services, who protested the church's bigotry from a public spot across the street.
Jeffress compared having sexual relations to using an iPod, whose instruction manual says that you must plug the iPod into a 120 power source to charge it. Jeffress says we all understand that Steve Jobs issues these instructions for our benefit, not his. Jeffress then says God's instruction manual for sex orders people to engage in it only in a marriage between one man and one woman. Again, this is for our benefit, not His.
Unfair Park reader "John M" had the best critique of Jeffress's flawed analogy:
"Huh, last I checked iPods come with USB cables and you have to buy the wall adaptor separately. Apple will happily sell you a 220 power adaptor, I don't know if the new ones both 120 and 220 but the older larger ones that they still sell are 120 and 220 compatible and they even sell a set of plugs that attach to the adaptor for use around the world. I've charged my iPod using the same adaptor I use at home in at least a dozen countries. They also endorse car chargers, battery packs and hundreds of other devices, cords, docks, and plugs for the dock port that you charge your iPod with that aren't outlined in the instruction manual but are perfectly fine and safe to use.It seems that Robert Jeffress's understanding of the iPod is right on the level of his understanding of the bible."
Robert Jeffress demonstrates once again why people should steer clear of analogies. They are hardly ever a perfect fit and too often, when examined closely, they better support the exact opposite point the speaker is trying to make. Worse in this case, an attempt to sound current, when it backfires, instead emphasizes how out of touch with the modern world Jeffress really is. But that was already clear when we saw the sermon title on the church sign, wasn't it?
If Robert Jeffress wants to mine iPod again for his next sermon,
many I suggest the following Apple slogans for inspiration?
Hold everything.
Everybody touch.
One size fits all.
Expand at will.
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