This case, as bizarre as it sounds, does point up a looming constitutional issue, one that neither party is eager to address.
Religious freedom is enshrined as one of the fundamental freedoms listed in the First Amendment. Every major religion considers homosexual conduct to be sinful, as it is specifically mentioned repeatedly in both the Old and New Testaments.
At the same time, progressives celebrate homosexuality as a positive value and coercive tolerance is one of their core values. They have largely won this battle in secular America. Expressing anything less than outritgh admiration for homos and homo lifestyles is a career killer in corporate, government and university circles.
Progressives' vast tolerance however only extends to ideas they agree with. Another of their core values is ruthless censorship of dissenting viewpoints. That is why the democrat presidential field the past several primary seasons has featured candidates who span the ideological spectrum from A to B.
The idea that pastors or people of faith can safely express critical views of homosexuality is deeply offensive to progressives. It was bad enough that theses pastors opposed abortion and infanticide. So they resort to their favorite weapon, the legal system. We already knew that Texas leads the country in politically motivated prosecutions. Now this. They probably know that they won't get anywhere, but that is not the point. The objective is to frighten people, to make them think twice before crossing homos on an issue. Do it and not only will they try to destroy you in your career. They will harrass you with lawsuits and baseless IRS-style fishing expeditions. The media will join in and soon, these pastors will be identified as "controversial", "bigoted", "anti gay", etc. People will think twice before joining their churches. Recall the attacks on Sarah Palin because of her church.
This is what happens when you compromise with evil. When you soften your principles to avoid controversy or because you have a gay relative and don't want to hurt their feelings.
Religious freedom is enshrined as one of the fundamental freedoms listed in the First Amendment. Every major religion considers homosexual conduct to be sinful, as it is specifically mentioned repeatedly in both the Old and New Testaments.
At the same time, progressives celebrate homosexuality as a positive value and coercive tolerance is one of their core values. They have largely won this battle in secular America. Expressing anything less than outritgh admiration for homos and homo lifestyles is a career killer in corporate, government and university circles.
Progressives' vast tolerance however only extends to ideas they agree with. Another of their core values is ruthless censorship of dissenting viewpoints. That is why the democrat presidential field the past several primary seasons has featured candidates who span the ideological spectrum from A to B.
The idea that pastors or people of faith can safely express critical views of homosexuality is deeply offensive to progressives. It was bad enough that theses pastors opposed abortion and infanticide. So they resort to their favorite weapon, the legal system. We already knew that Texas leads the country in politically motivated prosecutions. Now this. They probably know that they won't get anywhere, but that is not the point. The objective is to frighten people, to make them think twice before crossing homos on an issue. Do it and not only will they try to destroy you in your career. They will harrass you with lawsuits and baseless IRS-style fishing expeditions. The media will join in and soon, these pastors will be identified as "controversial", "bigoted", "anti gay", etc. People will think twice before joining their churches. Recall the attacks on Sarah Palin because of her church.
This is what happens when you compromise with evil. When you soften your principles to avoid controversy or because you have a gay relative and don't want to hurt their feelings.
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