Terrifying Precedents

What do you think the response from the general public would be if the government started forcing people to violate their religion? I don't mean pass generally applicable laws in which there is a compelling government interest, like prohibiting human sacrifice. I mean along the lines of, "You will act in a manner inconsistent with your religion or else you will pay a fine. You will also attend re-education classes to make sure that you continue to act in a manner inconsistent with your religion."

This is actually unconsitutional. The First Amendment to the US Constitution protects the rights of people to practice their religion. "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibit the free exercise thereof," makes it sound like people can practice whatever religion they want, and that Congress, and by extension of the Fourteenth  Amendment, the states cannot prohibit them from generally practicing their religion or acting in a manner consistent with their faith.

But this is happening right here in the United States, right now. The state of New York has fined a privately owned family farm a sum of $13,000 for refusing to host a same-sex wedding. The couple that owns the farm does frequently open up their home to host weddings, as well as other public events. The argument by the state of New York is that the lesbian couple wishing to use their farm have had their human rights violated by the owners by refusing to host the wedding. New York classifies this private, family-owned farm as a "public accommodation" because they open it up to the public for events like berry picking, fall festivals, and pig racing. Therefore, by refusing to close their farm for at least a day to host this private event for someone else, they are discriminating in a public accommodation.

Except, that's not really the case.

Odds are, if this family is helping "greet and drive guests in their farm trolley, decorate the barn, set up floral arrangements, arrange fireworks displays, and provide catering" for the events that they do host, then they probably set up some kind of contract with their guests. I don't know what their business practices are for sure, but that is my experience with renting a privately owned space for an event. So this would seem to remove it from the field of public accommodation and into the field of private business agreements.

Two people or organizations have the right to make private business agreements. However, people and organizations also have the right not to make private business agreements with other people or organizations that they disagree with. And people have the right to disagree with people on the basis of religion. What is really going on here, is that the state of New York is prioritizing the rights of the lesbian couple to enter into a relationship sanctioned by the state over and above the rights of someone to hold a religious belief and act upon it.

The owners of the farm clearly believe in the Biblical definition of marriage, that being one man and one woman united for life with the intent of raising children. They also probably believe that by participating in a ceremony that contradicts this, making it a sinful endeavor, it will grievously burden their conscience. Many Christians, even though they themselves grievously sin, believe that they cannot endorse other's sin as well. This family probably views hosting this wedding in a similar way to knowing that two people are having an extramarital affair and not saying anything about it. Or to knowing someone has perjured themselves in court, and when they themselves are asked about it, perjure themselves to continue the lie. Now, I can't actually speak for them. But I clearly hold the same Biblical position on marriage and on acting on that belief, and this is how I feel about this issue.

There seems to be a growing belief among secular organizations that religion only applies to what happens on Sunday morning or at various times throughout the day, and nothing else your religion teaches applies during the rest of the week. Christianity is certainly not that. It is first and foremost believing you are dead. As a sinner, you are spiritually dead and have no way to actually live. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death. Only after you believe this can the good news that Jesus has died in your place and risen from the dead actually raise you back to life. The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. And as a result, you live according to how God has ordained that life should be lived. This is found most succinctly in the 10 Commandments:

1. You shall have no other gods.
2. You shall not misuse name of the LORD your God.
3. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
4. Honor your father and mother.
5. You shall not murder.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (You shall not lie).
9. You shall not covet your neighbor's house.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor

Dr. Martin Luther's explanation of these commandments in the above link are incredibly helpful. Not that Christians expect to actually obey these commandments perfectly - in fact, we believe that we can't keep them perfectly. But we strive to live by them. Hosting a same-sex marriage implies that you condone homosexuality. At the same time, when you believe that marriage is between one man and one woman for life, and you do host said same-sex marriage, you bear a false witness. You lie to them, and everyone around you, about what you believe. And that can be a very difficult thing to deal with for some people.

I don't know the whole story here. But from what I've read, if someone refused to host a Christian event because they are not Christian, and they were slapped with a fine and "re-education classes", the ACLU would probably be up in arms. Because the government would be telling them what to believe. Because they would be violating the First Amendment.

The whole "re-education class" bit also scares the hell out of me. It means that the government is going to start telling people what they can and can't believe. If anyone thinks that that is a good idea, they should probably check themselves into a mental institution, because governments telling you what to believe leads to things like Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, Soviet Russia, Communist China and North Korea. It leads to things like the Holocaust. It is more than a bad idea. It would be an atrocity for the US to descend to that level.

Governments can impose on some practices of religion - the Religious Freedom Restoration Act affirms this - but only when there is a compelling state interest in said imposition. Preventing the murder of someone is a compelling government interest. A private business agreement or the lack thereof does not constitute a compelling state interest. This lesbian couple can find another venue for their "wedding". The state does not have any compelling reason to force someone to contradict their beliefs in this issue.

Actual Human Rights Violations [GRAPHIC]

Everyone knows what this symbol means:

It's the official logo of the Human Rights Campaign. It stands for equality for those who identify as LGBT. About half of my friends on Facebook changed their profile picture to this when the Supreme Court was considering several cases, particularly against the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA.

But I am willing to bet that few people know what this symbol means:

Anyone who knows Arabic knows that this is the letter nun, equivalent to N in English. It is used by the Islamic State, which I will refer to as ISIS, to identify the homes of Christians in many locations in Iraq and Syria, the letter nun being used in reference to Nazareth, where our Lord was raised. I found this out a few weeks ago when ISIS was first sweeping through Mosul, which has one of the largest Christian populations in Iraq, and has been a bastion of Christianity for at least 1800 years.

But now, the Christian population has all but disappeared from Mosul. The bishop's house and library, together with its collection of manuscripts, was burned. The church in Mosul was destroyed. Christians living peaceably in Iraq were delivered an ultimatum: convert to Islam, pay a tax, or die. Many fled the country, leaving behind their possessions and assets. They picked up their lives and left. Some opted to pay the tax to ISIS and stay there, albeit as a second-class citizen. But now, it seems that the only options for Christians and others is convert to Islam or die.

ISIS is carrying out the systematic destruction of all religious minorities in Iraq and Syria, and wants to spread this reign of terror to all corners of the world. it is not just Christians they are targeting. Anyone who does not convert to Sunni Islam is a target. And they aren't just using a gun to execute people. They are beheading them. Yes, you read that right. And I will repeat it. THEY ARE BEHEADING THEM.

GRAPHIC: #ISIS beheaded several army soldiers after taking al-Tanahej barricade in Hama #Syria [+18] pic.twitter.com/vv08RgWCeb
— Zaid Benjamin (@zaidbenjamin) January 3, 2014

UPDATE: An American journalist has also been beheaded by ISIS.

People are being forced from their homes into the mountains, where they might die from dehydration or starvation. The Yazidi community near Irbil was forced from their homes into exile on Sinjar Mountain. Around 60,000 people took refuge there, their only hope to die before ISIS got to them. Only after the US began air strikes on the heavy weaponry confiscated by ISIS and the delivery of 3800 gallons of water and 16000 MREs were they able to get off the mountain into nearby regions controlled by Kurds. But they still were forced to leave everything behind. They picked themselves up and moved without anything, or else what they could carry on their backs up a mountain.

These atrocities are being committed everyday by the most fundamentalist group of Islamic militants ever to come to power. I've heard it said that some factions of al-Qaeda won't even have anything to do with them because they are too extreme. I've only scratched the surface of the atrocities being committed by this vile scum. There are claims of a park in Mosul with the heads of children on display and rumors of crucifixions. There are pictures of people on crosses, but it looks like they were shot first.

And the largest LGBT advocacy organization has the audacity to claim they are fighting for human rights in the US by advocating for same-sex marriage. Because that is all that their organization is concerned about. The civil rights of a segment of American society that is not being systematically murdered for the way they live their life or what they believe. The LGBT community is a protected class in the United States - there have been laws written explicity to make sure they are not discriminated against. What the Human Rights Campaign is fighting for is legal recognition of a certain lifestyle. A lifestyle many straight people live without feeling the need to have it recognized. What they are fighting for are not human rights when actual human rights are being abused across the world. And that is why I find the Human Rights Campaign disgusting.

It's Not a Rape Culture

To be sure, sexual assault and sexual harassment are real issues that need to be dealt with. But to say that there is a "rape culture" anywhere really is just kind of ludicrous.

I suppose I should explain myself. I'm coming at this from the point of view that we are poor, miserable sinners that are all damned to hell eternally for our wretchedness and rebellion against God. Nothing we do is good. Even the good we do is tainted with selfish motives, making it not good. We are, in fact, evil.

Just compare yourself with the second table of the Ten Commandments. Do you always obey the authorities over you? Do you ever cause or wish to cause physical harm to another person? Do you ever have or wish to have sexual relations with another person that is not your spouse? Have you ever taken anything without permission, even with the intent to return it eventually? Have you ever told a lie, even a little white lie? Are you content with all of your possessions, or do you get jealous of the things other people have?

I know that for me, the answer for all of these is yes. And if you examine yourself closely, your answer will also be yes. These are practically universal beliefs about right and wrong. As it is written, "No one is righteous. No, not one." (Romans 3:10). We cannot keep these rules. We are evil.

And that's just it. Rape is one manifestation of this evil. A rapist commits adultery and harms his neighbor at the same time. So I prefer to think of it as it actually is - a sin culture. And the only way out of it is Jesus and the cross.

"But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it - the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." Romans 3:21-26