In case you have missed all of the excitement, there have been several laws proposed in several states as a reaction against cases in Washington, Colorado, and New Mexico where a florist, a baker, and a photographer have been sued because they refused to perform those services at same-sex weddings.
The most logical reaction would be this: if somebody refuses to work for you, you find somebody else that would do the work for you and pay them the money. But there are scores to be settled and people to belittle so lets take them to court!
What has been interesting to me is some of the reaction to this from my fellow Evangelicals.
Kristen Powers wrote an Op-ed piece for USA TODAY titled "Jim Crow Laws For Gays and Lesbians". In it, Powers makes some assertions that I found rather surprising. She says, "Whether Christians have the legal right to discriminate should be a moot point because Christianity doesn't prohibit serving a gay couple getting married". She adds, "Jesus calls his followers to be servants to all. Nor does the Bible call service to another an affirmation."
Well. We get everything we know about Jesus and Christianity from this book called The Bible. Perhaps you have heard about it. Just reading what it says about Sodom and Gomorrah, what it says in Leviticus and what it says in the Pauline epistles, one doesn't get the idea that it is for same-sex marriage. Maybe I missed something.
Look, I know Powers is a "young Christian" (you might even say that she is a "Babe in Christ-sorry I couldn't resist), but this is just semantically silliness. Powers also says, "Christians serve unrepentant murderers through prison ministry. So why can't they provide a service for a same-sex marriage?
Apparently, Powers believes the florists and bakers are in the ministry and not business. Prison ministries serve to try to get the "unrepentant murderers" to repent. Is this really that difficult to understand?
As long as we're saying catering a same-sex wedding is not "an affirmation", I guess we can say that catering the AVN (Adult Video News) Awards would not be "an affirmation" either. How about a gathering of Neo-Nazis? Or people that like to be cruel to puppies? Those folks like their cake and eat it too.
However, the goofiest quote in the Op-ed came from Andy Stanley, who is the pastor of The North Point Church in Alpharetta and is a big deal church-wise. Stanley is quoted as saying, "Serving people we don't see eye to eye with is the essence of Christianity. Jesus died for a world with which he didn't see eye to eye. If a bakery doesn't want to sell its products to a gay couple, it's their business. Literally. But leave Jesus out of it."
So what other business decisions does Stanley want to "leave Jesus out of " ? Is Stanley saying that Christians cannot come to any other conclusion than his?
One of the problems with this topic is that there is a "cool" side and a "not so cool" side. The cool side is to be hip and with it and assert that Jesus is not only The Good Shepherd but also The Great Caterer. The not so cool side are those that have such quaint views that marriage is between a man and a woman. Those people have become the new Bull Connors. Peggy Noonan put it best in her piece: "The political-media complex is bravely coming down on florists with unfashionable views."
This is the new face of Jim Crow
Noonan goes on to say, "On Twitter, the freedom-fighter who tweets as @FriedrichHayek asked: "Can the government compel a Jewish baker to deliver a wedding cake on a Saturday? If not why not." Why not indeed. Because the truly tolerant give each other a little space?"
Oh Lord. You can't do that. It used to be the Libertarian ideal was "live and let live". Now, it's "bake them a cake" or you are a sinful person that probably is really gay in your spare time. Not that there's anything wrong with that. You can even bake yourself a cake.
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