That is the ENTIRE linchpin – to unhook the morality of their lifestyle from the Bible based morality that presents (to them) a huge barrier. Houston Mayor Anise Parker does not want that juxtaposition to happen after the utter stupidity of believing that she could steamroll Houston’s Christian clergy over their resistance to her “Bathroom Bill” ordinance – allowing any gender into any bathroom based on “feelings” of the moment as to who they think they are. Subpeonas were issued for five of the Pastors sermons, texts, postings; anything that mentioned LGBT, her, homosexuality, or the ordinance. It was an act of intimidation. Well, after the national brouhaha she caused by obviously putting that LGBT “rights” and her political authority over First Amendment Freedom of Expression, she backed down and recalled those subpoenas. Curious, though, was her raison d’etre:
“That was the most persuasive argument, because to me it was, ‘What is the goal of the subpoenas?’ The goal of the subpoenas is to defend against a lawsuit, and not to provoke a public debate,” Parker said. “I don’t want to have a national debate about freedom of religion when my whole purpose is to defend a strong and wonderful and appropriate city ordinance against local attack, and by taking this step today we remove that discussion about freedom of religion.”
I think she realizes that for her to “win”, she must crimp the enumerated Right to worship, a Right of conscious (a TRUE Right as opposed to a mere ordinance) of those of faith. While there are a lot of “mainstream” church denominations that have gone to a social gospel basis (and shedding lots of worshippers / membership in the process) and forsaken their first calling and is conforming to “the culture”, polls I have seen still show that 51% of more traditional church goers still believe that it is sinful. Simply calling it “a wonderful and appropriate city ordinance” does not make it otherwise. What is sin is sin and a lot of folks who are secure in their faith are not going to be budged from their beliefs. And that is the battle she doesn’t want – to take on the redefinition of sin with those that will not budget from a Biblical definition.
That is why Parker and others (listening in there, Tyler Deaton??) have to unhook the two and are doing all they can do to move that needle. And if “gentle persuasion” is insufficient, well, the militant faction of the gay movement, as seen above, is not above using lawfare and the force of Government to demand conformance under the rubric of separation of church and state. Unfortunately, our public laws ARE morality, and what we are seeing is the deliberate changing of that public morality. It is the secular vs the religious. It is the battle between the force of Government and that of faith is not willing to be assimilated by the culture and that is starting to not back down for demands for concessions.
As an Evangelical Christian and believer, and a believer that my First Amendment Rights predated our Constitution and are embued to us by God, I’ll take that discussion any day and any time. Even as they say “it is about Freedom and equality” they are merely following the same tired Progressive road that has been traveled for thousands of years: change the language, change the definitions. Make what isn’t, is and hide that ball along the way. It will no longer be Live Free – it will be Obey. For the way they are going about it, their “Freedom” must necessarily remove Freedom for the rest – in this, the Tyranny of the Minority is trying to force not a “live and let live” but acceptance that many find objectionable. For the 2%, the 75% must lose their notion of Freedom? THey want Government to force a peculiar type of Freedom akin to that of FDR’s and Obama’s Second Bill of Rights – Government MUST do these things on behalf of folks….and that means taking things from others. But they never, ever want to talk about that last part – for that is no Freedom at all.
Coercion by Governmet is the opposite of Freedom. They know that….they just don’t want you to realize it.
Who will you serve today: God or Mammon?
