More than 1,200 clergy have signed a brief supporting LGBT-plus citizens in the "wedding cake" controversy. It's important to tell the U.S. Supreme Court that all churches don't seek to marginalize those they don't understand.
By Rodger McDaniel
I was pleased to join 1,200 of my clergy colleagues from all 50 states and two dozen faith traditions in signing an “amicus curiae” in support of the rights of gays, lesbians, transgender and bisexual citizens to be treated with dignity.
Amicus curiae is a Latin term meaning
The case before the highest court in the land is captioned “Masterpiece Cakeshop versus Colorado Civil Rights Commission.” It’s the hill on which religious conservatives have decided to make their last stand to legitimize their need to marginalize the LGBTQ community.
This started when the Supreme Court ruled gays and lesbians were constitutionally entitled to marry. Two men planning their wedding went to a business that held itself out to the public as a place that made wedding cakes. They wanted one of Masterpiece Cakeshop’s masterpieces.
But like Seinfeld’s “Soup Nazi,” the cake shop owners told these men, “No cake for you!”
Conservatives said these men should shut up and quietly buy their wedding cake elsewhere. These are the same sorts of folks who believe that instead of starting a bus boycott, Rosa Parks should have just asked politely, “Is that seat taken?” When told she could not sit there, they believe she should have quietly found an alternative way to get to work. Why stir up a fuss?
The Colorado men did not go away quietly without stirring up a fuss. They filed a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. The commission ruled against the cake makers on the basis of longstanding legal protections against the ability of businesses to discriminate.
Those protections were at the center of the battle over the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Business owners howled long and hard as Congress passed that legislation. They believed they had the right to deny service to anyone. Congress thought it had put an end to that ruse. But the heirs of those who lost that battle are back.
They argue it is their understanding of God that gives them the right to discriminate.
That is why we clergy became amicus curiae. We don’t believe the cake shop and its supporters should be allowed to speak for us. Religious thought in America is vastly diverse. As faith communities go, we are now in the majority. Faith communities claiming their beliefs provide the basis for denying the human dignity based on their sexual orientation or identity are declining in numbers.
A recent poll of people identifying themselves as Christians found a significant majority support gay marriage. Masterpiece Cakeshop bakers are asking the court to impose the views of a religious minority on all of us.
The Public Religion Research Institute poll also found more than six in 100 Christians opposed allowing businesses to refuse to serve gays or lesbians based on religious beliefs.
My clergy colleagues and I want the justices to know, as our amicus brief says, “Within the diverse panorama of American religious thought, a large and growing portion of the religious community welcomes, accepts and celebrates LGBT individuals and rejects the idea that they should be subject to discrimination in public accommodations based on differing religious views that reject their dignity and equality.”
The Supreme Court must not be left with the incorrect impression that most people of faith share the views of those who seek to employ their beliefs as a sword to smite those they don’t understand.
Jesus said there were two great commandments, and all religious rules depended on them. The framers of the Constitution said the nation could not establish the views of any one faith as predominant, adding that everyone is entitled to equal protection under the law.
Both the Gospel and the Constitution apply to this case, but it should be decided on the basis of the latter, not the former.
Rodger McDaniel lives in Laramie and is the pastor at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Cheyenne. Email: rmc81448@gmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment