I have been thinking a lot about the new RFRA laws, or "licenses to discriminate" as they are being called. Here's the thing. Religious beliefs, no matter how sincere or firmly held, no matter how ingrained in one's life, cannot justify actions that violate someone else's Constitutional rights. If they could, religious human sacrifice would be a protected action even though it violates the victim's Constitutional right to live.
I realize that's sort of a worst-case scenario, but how about the pharmacist who could refuse to fill a Viagra prescription because the patient is unmarried, and the pharmacist adheres to the belief that there should be no sex without marriage? Could that pharmacist refuse to fill my daughter's heart medication because it's the exact same drug? Or perhaps the pharmacist could refuse to dispense any drug created using stem cell research. Are you willing to accept that risk?
What if I, a married heterosexual, ordered a wedding cake for my friends' wedding without disclosing whether the parties are a same-sex couple. Should the business be able to refuse my order? Even if it turns out it was a straight couple? Should the bakery be able to demand to know that information? If I don't disclose it, or lie about it, can they sue me?
I hear people throwing around the idea that these types of laws reduce government involvement, but they don't. Instead, our courts become bogged down in litigation as every nuance and boundary of the law is tested, resulting in numerous new rules/laws.
I am saddened and ashamed that so much progress has been lost; that so much animosity and fear exists in the hearts of many who label themselves Christians; that so many people have fled the church community because all they see is hypocrisy.
I cannot be silent. I stand for the equal treatment of, and equal rights and opportunities for, all people, regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual preference, gender identity, age, citizenship, political party, marital status, affluence, manner of dress, employment, or physical limitation. We are all human. We should all be in this together, having each other's backs. Each of us is a child of God; an expression of God's self here on earth. Any mistreatment of you by me is a mistreatment of God by me. I do not have to like your behavior. I do not have to like you, or agree with you, or engage in the same behaviors as you. But I am called to love you and forgive you; to do no harm.
Please, stop worrying about labels. Stop worrying about what consenting adults are doing in their bedrooms. Stop inserting yourself between patients and their doctors. Instead, worry about what we are doing to ourselves, to our world. Worry about all of the hate and venom we are spewing at each other from every side. Worry that we are all so anxious, we have become isolated and stopped caring about the least of us. We have become so focused on the small goal of winning at all costs that we can't see that we are all losing. Compromise is not a dirty word. It is not losing. It is about flexibility, survival. It is the flexible tree that withstands the hurricane winds, while the inflexible tree is broken. Compassion and empathy are not horrible traits to be excised. The Golden Rule is NOT do unto others as was done to me. It's do unto others as I would have them do to me. Regardless of whether I have been cheated, if I do not want to be cheated, I will not cheat.
I am sad; anxious; broken from the loss of my son. But I am heartened; lifted; loved by the acts of friends and strangers who have given of themselves in my time of need. None of them has asked whether we have the same political party, religion, beliefs, what have you. They simply saw that I was in need and gave of themselves to help me. As I heal, I am called to do likewise. Please, join me. I promise you, it will be worth it.
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