The recent passage of religious conscience legislation proposed in Arizona and Kansas has sparked comparisons of such laws to old Jim Crow laws from the late 19th and early 20th century. Interestingly, the comparison came not from so-called civil rights leaders, but from Kirsten Powers who is a Christian. Jonathan Merritt likewise attacked fellow believers for any involvement in such legislation. If I understand their argument, they are essentially claiming Christian businesses should exercise a golden rule approach and treat those in favor of gay marriage just like any other customers. Moreover, they argue there is an hypocrisy in singling out gay marriage when it is highly unlikely anyone checks into the status of non-gay marriage partners.
Their argument, while understandable and perhaps even correct on a certain level, misses the point. The gay rights movement recently reached critical mass in the United States and has now achieved overwhelming public support. Unfortunately, as with many such situations, overwhelming public support tends to mean oppression of those who disagree. Thus, we find orthodox Christianity in the position of being a minority view and, subject to oppression by those who disagree. The current efforts by some to pass conscientious objector legislation is far from any sort of Jim Crow effort but is rather an attempt to prevent a coming majority from utterly trampling down religious rights.
Thus, both Powers and Merritt fail to see the more fundamental problem. We live in a society in which there is no longer any philosophical middle ground. Christian beliefs present a difficult problem for most people, even many who say they are Christian, because it presents unambiguous moral demands. Since most people now question authority in a manner which implies questioning authority is a social good, the Christian morality simply fails to fit, like an old shoe on a teenage boy that has outgrown its usefulness. Moreover, referring to the Bible as authority fails for two prominent reasons: first, our society is biblically illiterate, so many who attempt to quote Scripture either quote it incorrectly or severely out of context and; second, most simply see the Bible as an outdated and outmoded book which provides little or no guidance of substance to 21st century humans. Ironically, in my experience, those most against what they claim the Bible says, are often those who have the least understanding of what the Bible says.
So Powers and Merritt have done a grave disservice to both believers and non-believers. They have offered up an evocative and emotionally charged invective against those who are seeking to preserve what they see as the complete erosion of religious liberty in this country. They have hurt believers who look across the moral landscape of the United States and see that we have turned a very dangerous corner where morality becomes nothing more than, to use a phrase from Alan Dershowitz, "mere majoritarian preference." Ironically, in his book Rights from Wrongs, Dershowitz, an ardent secular humanist, argued this preference was wrong. Right now, gay rights have become just that, mere majoritarian preference. Understand, as well, that the secular humanist philosophy, to which so many in the United States subscribe, knowingly or not, cannot rationally provide any grounds for why gay rights should trump religious liberty or vice versa. Basically, this ultimately boils down to a matter of political power, and the gay rights movement has the political power now. Oh where is Alan Dershowitz when we need him? Soon any religious objection to homosexuality, no matter how sincere, and no matter how rational or reasonable, will be completely illegal. Powers and Merritt are, I think, unwittingly hastening that day with their commentary.
Worse, they are harming non-believers because their columns, intentionally or not, completely affirm the idea that homosexual behavior is biblically acceptable. Since space here is insufficient, I'm only going to offer this one argument in support of my view: no single passage in Scripture ever affirms homosexual behavior as acceptable. None. While neither Powers nor Merritt argues directly that homosexual behavior can be reconciled with Christian belief, they level all their accusations at Christians without addressing the more obvious and more fundamental question: is homosexual behavior morally okay or not?
Christians in the United States must quickly come to the understanding that the Gospel message confronts people. Scroll down to the comments of the article on the Daily Beast (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/23/conservative-christians-selectively-apply-biblical-teachings-in-the-same-sex-marriage-debate.html). You'll find those who disagree with Christianity have little good to say about Christians or their faith. I read many, none of which congratulated either Powers or Merritt on their thoughtfulness. Christians must be prepared to accept the consequences of the faith: we will be disparaged, we will be discounted, we will be dismissed.
Before leaving the practice of law for seminary in 2011, I told two lawyer friends of mine they would likely see me in jail within 10 years because of this very issue. Unfortunately, I am concerned it might be less than 10 years. Powers and Merritt didn't help any.
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