I have seen some very disturbing trends in the last few weeks that prompted some vague misgivings at the time. It is only recently that the issue has become very clear in my mind. A question from my daughter has prompted me to answer in this public fashion. We are seeing the beginnings of a new and terrible form of discrimination and I would consider it an act of cowardice if I did not speak out in the strongest terms possible.
Certain churches have theological tenets that prevent them from extending to gay people the full benefits of participation in their organization. This is perfectly within their rights since people are free to associate with those churches or not. But now those churches would like the government to create laws that allow them, based on the principle of free exercise of religion, to extend the reach of their theological tenets outside the walls of their church buildings and to impose them on other people. This is wrong. It is antithetical to the very foundation of individual liberty.
Things like skin color, gender, old age, sexual orientation, disability, and nation of origin are factors over which one has no choice. But no matter how deeply held, a religious belief is 100% a matter of choice. Because of this crucial difference, peoples' rights to be treated equally without regard to their physical characteristics must always and in every way trump peoples' right to practice their religion.
One of the primary functions of government is to protect citizens who cannot protect themselves. If a segment of the population is being systematically discriminated against or subjected to unequal treatment on the basis of a physical characteristic that was not chosen, then, as a just and civilized society, it is not only our right, it is our obligation to provide a remedy using the primary means at our disposal: by extending the protection of the law to prevent the injustice, even by force if necessary.
But such special legal protections must NEVER be extended to groups one can belong to by voluntary association. This applies both individually and to the organization as a whole. To do so would be a giant step toward tyranny. Churches are just one example of this.
A religious belief, however deeply and fervently held, is a personal choice. People join and leave churches every day. By extending special legal protections toward a group one can belong to by choice, we effectively allow anybody to choose to receive the benefit of the special status granted to that group. Don't like people with brown eyes? Fine, just start or join a group whose fervent, deeply held belief is that it is a sin to associate with brown-eyed people. Now you have legal cover to treat brown-eyed people differently. It's as simple as that. You can legally treat anybody any way you want.
All a business or town or state has to do is to claim a deeply held belief and then it could do pretty much anything it wanted to. We would be right back to the good old days of "separate but equal", "Gays to the back of the bus", "Mormons need not apply", and "Canadians not welcome here."
This is for everybody's equal protection. The freedom to worship God and practice our religions freely is enshrined in our constitution. No one is challenging that or trying to change it. But unless you want to be subjected to interrogation about your religion or your sexuality or your ancestry every time you visit a store, or enter a town, or cross a state's border, you will not support legislation to create special legal protections allowing voluntary religious beliefs to trump the right to equal treatment under the law. To do so may seem like it would be a good idea at the time, but you would quickly come to regret it most bitterly.
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