Dear Friend, In last week’s newsletter, we briefly discussed the 303 Creative Case that is currently before the Supreme Court. Here’s a refresher: Most states have a law that prohibits companies from refusing services to people on the basis of race, religion, and political beliefs. In Colorado, the law goes further than that: A business cannot refuse on the basis of sexual orientation, either. As Christians, we wouldn’t normally have a problem with this. Of course we agree that it’s an issue when people can’t obtain food or clothes because of discrimination. Even if a person’s actions undermine their right relationship with God, that’s never a ground for us to refuse to treat them with basic human dignity. But in the United States, there’s a wrinkle: Obergefell v. Hodges. In this case, the Supreme Court made a religious proclamation. They said that same-sex “marriages” are the same as a biblically-grounded marriage. Since then, there has been no legal difference between the two. Think about what this does when combined with anti-discrimination laws. If one provides a service for any marriage then, by implication, they must provide a service for all “marriages.” To refuse to do so would be discriminating between two types of marriage that, in legal terms, are the same. Somehow, we have moved from an anti-discrimination laws that affirm the dignity of all people to ones which force people to affirm any definition of marriage which is thrown at them. But that is why this case is so important. Lorie Smith, the Petitioner, is a Christian graphic designer who hopes to see the law overturned. She has wanted to offer her services to create wedding websites, but is afraid to begin: If she does, the Colorado law would force her to equate biblical and same-sex weddings, celebrating them both equally. This, needless to say, would be a severe violation of her religious beliefs. Of course, she would never discriminate against people. But she, like every Christian, must still be able to distinguish between true and false beliefs. While forcing business owners to make religious proclamations in this manner might be an obvious extension of the logic of Obergefell v. Hodges, it’s not a decision that the Court has yet made. That is why our prayers are so important here. The irony is that in the midst of this case, when Christians are being forced to make religious proclamations against their own faith, our partner organization in Virginia had their reservation at a restaurant cancelled because of their beliefs. These progressives, while they want to deny a Christian the right to distinguish between true and false marriages, still want to be able to discriminate against someone for their political beliefs—something that has been a protected category since the beginning of anti-discrimination laws. For the sake of forcing people to agree with them about discrimination, they want to discriminate. The further irony is that we’re not upset. We absolutely respect the decision of the owners to exclude groups like ours from their establishment if they don’t want to serve us. We may tell our friends about their choice, but we still will respect their decision. In the same way, we hope they will accept the existence of religious graphic designers who don’t want to publicly state a position that they oppose. |
