Roy Exum
Rarely do I confuse myself, since my body parts seem to get along and my brain doesn’t spasm much, but this “religious freedom” issue has got me flummoxed. I am a Christian, or try the best I can to reflect the teachings of Jesus. I am also a huge advocate of freedom, this being where an American can do, and say, and choose what he believes, and worship as he wishes without any fear as long as he does so within the lines of the law.
On the other hand, I personally detest any type of discrimination.
I think Jesus does, too. Remember that bakery that refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple? That incident made me ask myself if what I believed was right. First, I believe the bakery has the right to refuse to do, or not do, business with anyone. That’s called ownership, not discrimination. It’s their shop, on which they pay taxes, electricity and water and I don’t think the owners should do anything they do not wish to do. That, to me, is freedom.
Secondly, if two gay people want to live together and love one another that’s their business. That is also freedom in my eyes. While I would hope that any human being who is different in any way than I am would be treated with the warmth and kindness that I enjoy, everybody’s moral compass is a tad different and I respect each person’s moral compass. That’s part of being free, too.
Honestly, I have found that if ever I am mistreated, disappointed by what I see in some restaurant, or saddened by the outcome of some business transaction, I can seek and easily find somewhere else where I’ll be happy. Don’t you see, I am free to do that! I personally wouldn’t balk at doing business with a gay couple, a mixed-race couple or those with a different heritage or religious preference. Understand, during the transaction I don’t want anybody foisting their preferences or prejudices on me but, as a rule, I can find something to like in anybody.
I believe in making “good choices” and my definition might differ from someone else, but I certainly want every American, whether it is at the ballot box, the church aisle, Coca-Cola or Pepsi, to have the freedom to make their choice instead of allowing a politician to “to what is best” for us.
Unfortunately, there are some among us who still believe in, let’s call it, grade-school cooties. I have hundreds of friends who are gay, this because long ago someone I loved very deeply, one who shared a deep love for the Lord, and taught me that we are indeed brothers in this life we live. We really are our “brother’s keeper” and, yes, as Jesus commanded, “That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”
The trouble is, most of us don’t do that very well anymore and, in my view, right now the gays and the liberals among us are leading the angst parade. The gay couple who wanted the wedding cake simply could have gone somewhere else and said a prayer for the disgusting bigots who use Christianity to hide their hatred. But, no, they want the liberal media, the Al Sharpton types, the ALCU, and the sensationalists who want nothing more than an increase in their ratings to make “a statement.”
It’s wrong, sure, but it is also incredible we fall for it. So follow the parade. What you are seeing in state legislatures across the country is no more than a knee jerk reaction that has my conservative friends foaming at the mouth like they are sucking an Alka-Seltzer. I mean it. Let’s now go to Louisiana for an example. Today, this being Tuesday, is being actually hailed as “LGBT Day” at the Louisiana Legislature where there will be demonstrations, protests, people coming “out” and a Republican-led result that will make everybody redder in the face than a boiled crawfish.
-- House Bill 707 is to “protect sincerely-held religious beliefs of those who oppose same-sex marriage.”
-- House Bill 632 “specifically protects LGBT people against discrimination by employers, labor unions, public contracts and other scenarios.”
-- House Bill 612 “adds ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity or expression’ to the lists of personal characteristics protected for unlawful discriminatory practices in the fields of employment, housing, education, finance safety, and public accommodations.”
You don’t think today won’t be a dandy day in Baton Rouge! Afterwards you can take an hour’s drive down to New Orleans, hit the French Quarter and pay a wad of bills to watch the tantalizing nightly Revue where the men dress up like women. Ooh-la-la!
Now, are you ready? Here’s the kicker: According to a 2014 report from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, “Based on the 2013 NHIS data [collected in 2013 from 34,557 adults aged 18 and over], 96.6% of adults identified as straight, 1.6% identified as gay or lesbian, and 0.7% identified as bisexual. The remaining 1.1% of adults identified as “something else” (0.2% of 1.1%) stated “I don’t know the answer” (0.4%) and those who refused to provide an answer (0.6%).
“More specifically,” announced the CDC, “1.8 percent of men self-identify as gay and 0.4 percent as bisexual, and 1.5 percent of women self-identify as lesbian and 0.9 percent as bisexual.”
Do you get this? These are the latest CDC numbers, not mine. Less than 4 percent of all Americans, along with their “friends,” have got over 96 percent of us all stirred up over what they feel is discrimination. It’s my feeling the liberals’ actions and conservatives’ reactions, in combination, are in fact taking away our freedoms. Does that make sense?
You can’t legislate hatred, any more than you can legislate kindness. The sad fact is that freedom should trump discrimination every time and today it seems my freedoms are taking a whipping.
royexum@aol.com