Will disapproval of homosexuality lead to jail today in Washington, DC?
Ho hum. Some religious leaders and preachers are going to be in Washington DC today to "engage in civil disobedience to protest inclusion of 'sexual orientation' in hate crimes law."
These folks, led by Christian Anti-Defamation Commission head, Gary Cass, believe that the recent hate crimes revision signed by Barack Obama criminalizes speech which disapproves of homosexuality. So they see their action in the same tradition as Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement. If there was a law against hyperbole, then perhaps these guys would get some jail time; however, I don't think they will get arrested today if they just intend to say homosexuality is wrong.
The new law does not criminalize speech as the ministers will no doubt discover today. A plain reading of the law makes that clear. Some evangelicals have been worried that the bill would be a kind of slippery slope leading to prosecution of intentions or beliefs. Courts can do strange things with laws, but I remain skeptical. Putting out the fleece, Paul Blair views today as a kind of test:
Pastor Paul Blair, founder of Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ, summed up the sentiments of participants, when he observed: "Pastors have preached the Bible in America for more than 400 years, pointing the people to Jesus Christ and standing against sin. If preaching the Bible is now against the law, then let us be arrested. If not, may every pastor in America know that he can stand strong and proclaim Biblical Truth without fear of persecution or prosecution."
Every pastor in America need not worry. They can preach whatever they want. However, I am not sure that Rev. Blair is on target with his last statement. As I read the New Testament, we are not looking for a political salvation to free us from persecution. Jesus taught that His message would be offensive to many. Instead when the gospel is preached, there are those who will associate the message with the messenger.
I wonder what the message will be today in Washington DC. Will the preachers find every negative stereotype about gays and "preach" those as a Christian message? Or will they simply say they believe homosexuality is wrong in their view? Will they preach gospel messages or political ones?
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ShareInstead of getting arrested, the ministers got something else: A couple of dozen Gay activists, surrounding them with rainbow flags and signs. By the end, the Gay people had taken over the lectern and the sound system and were holding their own news conference denouncing the ministers. So the organizer of the anti-Gay rally, Gary Cass, turned angrily to the AV guy. "We're not on the clock, are we?" He turned with equal anger to one of the Gay men who had appropriated the sound system: "You guys gonna help us pay for the microphones?" The Gay activist smiled. "God," he said, "works in mysterious ways."
In this case, God took the form of Chuck Fazio, from DC Podiums. Fazio was hired by the religious conservatives to provide the sound system for the event, but upon learning of their cause, he decided to donate his proceeds to the Gay rights activists and to give them a chance at the microphone before shutting down the amplifiers.
YAY! The bigger point here, of course, is that the federal hate crimes law was NEVER intented to criminalize anti-Gay sentiments (or anti-Muslim, anti-Jewish, or anti-Black sentiments, for that matter). In the 40 years the law has been in effect, never has it been used to persecute conservative Christians for venting their spleens.
Poor anti-Gay Christians. They expected to get arrested for preaching against Gay Americans, and instead they got a lesson in what the law ISN'T supposed to do.
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Warren Throckmorton, PhD is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Fellow for Psychology and Public Policy at Grove City (PA) College.
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