Liars for Jesus, Part 2

Below is a ridiculous article about the supposed threat to "religious freedom" that opponents of gay marriage claim is about to crush the faithful. Every word that these people utter about this subject is a lie.

They claim that the state will coerce unwilling pastors into performing gay marriages. This is preposterous. Nobody can legally demand that a Catholic priest, a protestant minister, a rabbi, or any other kind of clergy perform any religious rite under any circumstances whatsoever. No such legal right exists. Including gay people in marriage does nothing to change this fact--and the opponents of gay marriage know this to be the case! They tell this lie solely to gain public support. They know their claim to be false.

They claim that the state will not allow them to discriminate against gay people in places of business--to deny gay people services or employment or whatever. This has nothing to do with gay marriage. It has everything to do with anti-discrimination law governing public accommodations. Some states have such laws; most do not; the federal government has no such law despite several recent attempts to move such laws through Congress. Why religious people feel that they have the right to punish people they don't like is beyond me; these people would be the first to scream "Discrimination!" and hire a lawyer if they were denied services or employment on the basis of their religious affiliations or beliefs. Apparently the Golden Rule--treat others as you would be treated--doesn't apply to right-wing Christians. Somebody should notify Jesus about this cancellation ASAP. In any event, anti-discrimination law has nothing to do with including gay people in marriage. These are two separate legal issues.

I take exception with the article because the writer doesn't even attempt to deal with these absurd claims--other than by repeating them. I suppose this is the writer's twisted idea of being even-handed and balanced. One side tells lies about the other side. Journalists repeat the lies in order to give "both sides" of the story a fair shake. Once upon a time in America journalists were supposed to do some thinking and analysis, to challenge claims and evaluate evidence. Evidently those times are long behind us. This is one reason why the opponents of gay marriage keep getting away with lying for Jesus.

Read it here