The Right to be intolerant

Conservative Christians are suing for the right to be intolerant towards Homosexuals.

They are suing for the right to wear anti gay tee shirts to school, for the right to denounce Gay Pride month, for the right to refuse attend diversity training. Because these Christians feel that they have a duty to attack Gays publicly wherever they are. It is part of their faith.

To be a Christian, in their worldview, is to attack gays publicly. To prevent a Christian from attacking gays publicly is the same as expecting gays to give up loving people of the same sex or painting black people white. It is discriminatory, because, again, to be a Christian you have to attack gays publicly.

I suspect that if operated a business and I employed gay people I would not permit excessive displays of affection while on the job. And if employed this particular type of Christian I would not permit excessive displays of "Christian" intolerance on the job.

Robert J. Elisberg has some thoughts on this subject.

But no, Rev. Rick Scarborough, who as an adult should know better, says with a straight face that this policy against gays and lesbians is a civil rights issue for Christians. "Christians are going to have to take a stand for the right to be a Christian," he insists.

And that in a nutshell is the problem these ultra-conservative groups created for themselves: those 139 million other Christians in horror at seeing how their own personal faith is being portrayed. That this is supposedly being "a Christian." It forces the question for these other 90+% of Christians - you know, the ones who have no problem not being intolerant to anyone: is this what you think being a Christian is?

The point is that this is not what Christianity is about. The values of Christianity are deep and loving, which is why they have been ingrained in the hearts of so many. The point here is that it's time for those Christians, that other 90+% - and everyone - to stand and not allow such intolerance to get away with it. Enough already.

This is not an attack on religion because self-imposed intolerance has nothing to do with religion.

That's a fair question. As a Christian I do find it offensive that some are fighting, in my name, for the right to be intolerant.