Posted on 05/09/2015 10:59:39 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
MIAMI BEACH — Christians who have so far avoided controversial "culture war" issues will likely be pulled into those battles as their religious freedom becomes threatened due to gay marriage, Dr. John Inazu warned Monday.
Theologically conservative Christian non-profit organizations, including churches, could face losing their tax exempt status or being shut down, and Christian doctors, lawyers, counselors and other professionals could be forced out of their professions, he explained.
Inazu, associate professor of law and political science at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, was delivering a presentation, "Religious Liberty and the American Culture Wars," at the Ethics and Public Policy Center's "Faith Angle Forum."
Even though his personal beliefs often align with conservative Christianity, Inazu explained that he often thought of himself as a "civilian" in the culture wars and he thinks a lot of other Christians feel the same way. These Christians serve their communities and work through ministries that "do a lot of good for society — in education, social services, hospitals, mercy ministries, and many other areas."
To illustrate, he spoke about Focus on the Family and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Focus, he pointed out, used to be considered part of the Christian Right while it was led by James Dobson, but that is no longer the case under its new leader, Jim Daly. Recently, for instance, it partnered with the Gill Foundation, a gay rights group, to help pass an anti-human trafficking bill in Colorado.
As a member of its board, Inazu is even more familiar with the work of InterVarsity. Since its founding in 1946, Inazu explained, InterVarsity has sent tens of thousands of students all over the world to help build infrastructure and serve the poor, sick and dying. The student group has never "really been fighting the culture wars," he noted, and is one of the most racially and ethnically diverse groups around. But InterVarsity has recently found itself on the culture war front lines as some colleges and universities have forced it off campus. Last year, for instance, all the state universities in California required the group to allow non-Christians to be leaders to remain a campus group.
If the Supreme Court rules in June that the U.S. Constitution requires all 50 states to recognize same-sex marriage, Inazu believes that the resulting religious freedom issues will depend much on how the opinion is written. He pointed to an amicus brief in the case submitted by Douglas Laycock, a religious freedom expert and law professor at the University of Virginia law school.
Laycock argued in favor of same-sex marriage, but warned the Court about the religious freedom issues that would inevitably follow.
He wrote, for instance, "Must pastors, priests, and rabbis provide religious marriage counseling to same-sex couples? Must religious colleges provide married student housing to same-sex couples? Must churches and synagogues employ spouses in same-sex marriages, even though such employees would be persistently and publicly flouting the religious teachings they would be hired to promote? Must religious organizations provide spousal fringe benefits to the same-sex spouses of any such employees they do hire? Must religious social-service agencies place children for adoption with same-sex couples? Already, Catholic Charities in Illinois, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia has closed its adoption units because of this issue.
"Religious colleges, summer camps, day care centers, retreat houses, counseling centers, meeting halls, and adoption agencies may be sued under public accommodations laws for refusing to offer their facilities or services to same-sex couples. Or they may be penalized by loss of licensing, accreditation, government contracts, access to public facilities, or tax exemption." (For brevity, all footnotes have been removed.)
During the Court's recent oral arguments on gay marriage, Inazu recalled, President Barack Obama's solicitor general acknowledged that religious freedom is "going to be an issue" if the Court favors gay marriage. How much of an issue it will be depends on what Inazu calls the "Bob Jones question."
In Bob Jones University vs. United States (1983), the Supreme Court ruled that the Internal Revenue Service was correct to revoke the Christian school's tax exempt status over its interracial dating prohibition. The analogy is important because gay marriage supporters often claim that opposition to gay marriage is bigotry motivated by hatred. If the Supreme Court suggests the same in its ruling, lower courts will be less likely to uphold the religious freedom of traditional marriage supporters.
"Now is a good time to be thinking about the implications of the Bob Jones question: whether we really think Gordon College in 2015 is like Bob Jones in 1983, that InterVarsity is like a neo-Nazi group, and that Tim Keller is like the Grand Wizard of the Klan. If we think there are meaningful differences, then now is a good time to think harder about the rhetoric fueling some of these debates," Inazu said.
Inazu has a book that will be published later this year, Confident Pluralism: Surviving and Thriving Through Deep Difference. Audio of his Faith Angle Forum presentation is available on the Ethics and Public Policy Center website. A transcript will be posted later.
How much longer do we Christians have to suffer the tyranny of the minority?.
“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.
For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?
So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”
( 1 Peter 4:12-20 )
What angers me about this is that it should have been obvious for the last several decades to anyone of at least moderate intelligence. They never were going to leave us alone. The two Several thousand year old examples of homosexuals trying to force their will on others which are mentioned in the Bible ought to have been a freakin clue to people as to the nature of this beast.
No, the culture wars will not leave you alone. You either need to fight till you win, or accept that they are going to shove very ugly things down your throat. Thinking you can try to avoid trouble is probably the most certain way to get it.
During the past 25 years, cowards ha from the front Lines of the Culture War, and said the key to win was economic. Conservatives have lost the culture, and now only true Christians will operate behind enemy lines.
I think American Christians are so sick that they will surrender. The dominant philosophy today is eating, drinking, drugging, copulating, evacuating the bowels and snoring. To live that philosophy means to take other peoples property as the philosophy is a hard master requiring much time leaving little time for productive labor. To take other peoples property one must choose a leader that panders to that philosophy-which has been done. Once living the philosophy it is so addictive that one will often die rather than abandon it. Therefore, if one would even die it follows that it is quite easy to give up all other forms of life just to continue living the philosophy of the beast. Giving up is surrender.
Most of the “silent” ones have opened their mouths to ridicule and insult those who were trying to stand against it. They have not really been entirely silent. Some may speak now. Most will cave into demands. Others will get run over. For the last group I have some sympathy in that they are the ones who think God will solve their problems without them lifting a finger. They think that is the requirement of faith. I think it is faith plus action. I think your action proves your faith. So it is the same core belief, only very very different in practice. So I cannot entirely condemn them. They mean well.
It’s about time. Something has to give one way or another.
I’m not free because the state says I’m free...I’m free because Christ says I’m free.
I hear too many church-going Christians try to tell me allah is just another name for God and that their culture is equal. These same people refuse to believe they decapitate and burn. They try to tell me I’m brainwashed and simply REFUSE to check it out for themselves. None of them believe they want to dominate or kill us all. By the end of it I just tell them to die on their knees begging like cowards when the towelheads come for us. This problem won’t be solved by turning the other cheek.
Not all that long, according to some here on FR.
Once attacked, they insist that the Christian commit suicide. If he doesn't submit to that, he isn't fighting properly.
I can name names.
Only as long as we inhabit this plane. I have it on good authority that things will be different on the next...
Oops wrong thread
What gate is it departing from? :-)
Because some people in government are now hostile to marriage as God defined it, in order to protect godly marriage we must remove the power of the State to define and regulate marriage. Then anyone will be perfectly free to enter into whatever relationship they want. However, they will not be able to call upon the police power of the state to force me to recognize a “marriage” that I know is theologically illegitimate and morally repugnant.
If we remove government from marriage and return it to the private sphere where it came from, lesbians can still marry each other, but they won’t be able to use government to force me to sell them wedding cake or artfully photograph their “marriage”. They will be free to do as they please without being able to coerce anyone else about their private affair.
Absolutely. And where in scripture are we called to fight for religious freedom? We are called to witness for Christ. Religious freedom is a rarity, but the church goes forth. Jesus said, "Go", He didn't mention coming back.
Taking the high road and acting civilized in the face of feral enemies is why we're here today. The bad guys ain't going away by themselves and "those who claim to protect" are on their side.
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