Linda Harvey: Don’t Get Married – Get Even

How ‘non-discrimination’ laws are used to discriminate against people of faith

First published by WorldNetDaily, June 15, 2012; this is the first half of Linda’s column; read the whole column on WND HERE:

Relatively few self-identified homosexuals get “married,” even when same-sex unions become legal. But perhaps that was never the main point anyway.   Respectability is what they are seeking. But to achieve this goal for behaviors that never can be intrinsically respectable, the power to massage the truth and to silence opponents is critical. How do you gain power? Restrict the rights of your enemies to express an opinion opposing homosexuality and same-sex “marriage.”

The most destructive weapons deployed to this end are sexual-orientation and gender-identity “non-discrimination” laws. The Senate just held its first hearings on ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and many states and municipalities continue to be confronted with this unneeded legislation. As they hear the pleas about someone being fired “just for being ‘gay’ or ‘transgender,’” politicians would be wise to review the history.

Such policies routinely clobber people of faith who don’t agree with same-sex “marriage” or with the open expression of this behavior in the workplace, in schools and in public accommodations, by people who often lack good sense and good judgment. The cost of disagreement? Just your job, your reputation, your bank account and/or your religious liberty.

And we know where the “Gay”-Activist-in-Chief stands on religious freedom, right? Obama is leading the charge on restroom rights for radicals as well. June is once again “Pride” month, and the White House issued a glowing proclamation of support for this noble cause, which Obama thinks is “stronger than hate.” So there you have it.

Obama alludes in the proclamation to the Golden Rule as justification for his own “personal” view that same-sex “marriages” are needed for marriage equality. Never mind that we already have marriage equality, since people are free to marry a person of the opposite sex. (Obama is unfamiliar, apparently, with either Jesus’ description of authentic marriage in Matthew 19:4-6 or the freedoms guaranteed by our U.S. Constitution).

The desire for permission is morphing into a demand for punishment. “We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it” is becoming, “How dare you?” And they are enlisting legal, judicial, political and even spiritual muscle to make this point.

Homosexually driven non-discrimination policies on the local, state or national level, within school districts, or within companies, are the linchpins that allow sexual deviance to be exalted. These measures end up enabling exactly what they claim to be preventing – discrimination – only it’s against people of faith and conservative values.

Vindictive homosexuals and their allies feel free to mount one faith-based attack after another. The First Amendment now applies only to approved religious faith or faith that is kept indoors and on a leash. Homosexual rights now trump religious faith in head-to-head contests.   Examples are piling up. You can’t express objection to homosexuality-as-marriage on the job. You can’t even be a worker who has expressed that opinion elsewhere. Dr. Frank Turek was fired from a long-time consulting position at Cisco Systems because of his unrelated book supporting traditional marriage. Reason? The company’s “non-discrimination” policy (which, of course, didn’t apply to the rights of Dr. Turek).

An Ocean Grove, N.J., United Methodist facility said no to two lesbians and their commitment ceremony. A judge ruled that the center must comply with the request. Reason? The New Jersey state “non-discrimination” law….[Read the rest of Harvey’s column on WND HERE]

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Linda Harvey is president of Mission America and hosts a talk show on Salem affiliate WRFD in Columbus, Ohio.