Prominent TEApublican Pundit: Gay People are Forcing Christians ‘Into the Closet’

Prominent TEApublican Pundit: Gay People are Forcing Christians ‘Into the Closet’

by Bob Cull

Yet another voice from the religious right has chimed in to inform us that by not allowing "Christians" to persecute those they disapprove of we are persecuting them.  Star Parker, in an op-ed for World Net Daily, the extreme right website revered by Tea Party types as one of the few "reliable" sources of information says that Christians are being forced "into the closet" by militant gays who are demanding that they violate their religious convictions.

Parker starts by calling the Arizona bill vetoed by governor Jan Brewer last week flawed and admitting that Brewer was right to have vetoed it.  She never explains what she means when she says the bill was flawed, however she does go on to make all of the usual non-sense comparisons that we have heard from all of those who supported the bill.

"Would anyone question the refusal of a black vendor to sell sheets to the local Ku Klux Klan chapter? Or a Jewish merchant refusing to sell the poster board for a Neo-Nazi rally? Or refusal of a Christian video service to make a pornographic film?" She writes.

These are, of course, ridiculous arguments, even if a Klansman still handmade his robes out of sheets and pillow cases he would not be bringing his business to a black store owner in the first place.  And no one goes into a store to purchase poster board and tells the owner what he is going to use it for, nor do pornographic film producers hire independent videographers to film their movies.

She also says, "the right to religious freedom does not mean the right to write-off and marginalize into non-existence a whole class of citizens whom you don’t like or agree with."

going on to say that Jim Crow laws were designed to do just that because those who wrote them did not like blacks simply because they were black, suggesting that this is not the case with those who dislike gays and lesbians.

"Such actions have nothing to do with freedom and everything to do with bigotry and racism," she says.

She then goes on to explain the difference when a "Christian" denies service to a gay person:

[box type="shadow"]"So why is it not perfectly clear that the religious freedom of a Christian merchant is violated if that merchant is forced to bake a cake or prepare a flower arrangement for a same-sex marriage, which is not only as personally repugnant to that vendor as any in the cases above, but is also a clear and literal violation of the scripture that defines the faith of these individuals?"[/box]

Blinded by her own bigotry she cannot see that this is not a matter of religious freedom, baking that cake or preparing that floral arrangement is not the same as participating in homosexual activity, it is merely providing a service, one that they have provided over the years to many "fornicators" as it is highly unlikely that they have ever asked a heterosexual couple if they have already engaged in sexual activity prior to the wedding.  Is this not also in violation of those same strongly held religious beliefs?

She goes on to explain, "the reality is that the “gay rights” crusade is not about a struggle for justice, but rather it is a cultural war."

This is not about demanding that they be treated the same as others, it is about inflicting themselves on others, she wonders why these people seek out "Christian" florists, bakers and photographers for their weddings if not to force them to "violate" their beliefs.  She is certain that they are actively seeking these particular businesses out when there are so many others out there to supply the same services who would not object.

Her bigotry does not allow her to see that there have actually been very few of these cases, two bakeries, one in Oregon and another in Colorado, a florist in Washington state, a photographer in New Mexico and the owner of an inn in Vermont all of which went out of their way to denounce and condemn the potential customers because they were gay or lesbian.

There is no war on Christianity in this country but there is a war by Christianity designed to take the nation over and make it a theocratic state in which anyone not conforming to the approved state religion will be persecuted with the full approval of the law.

h/t:  Opposing Views

Bob Cull