Reprinted from the Arthur Church of Christ Website

 

Some have thought all the negative reaction against the legalization of same-sex-marriage (SSM) is much-to-do-about-nothing—certainly nothing that would affect us in our normal walk of life. The redefining of marriage, however, is already affecting society, and will continue to worsen. The cry of proponents of SSM was that we need to be more tolerant of people who differ. Now those who hold to traditional and biblical standards are no longer to be tolerated in our tolerant, politically correct nation.

You may recall an earlier report concerning Colorado baker Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop who declined to bake a “wedding cake” for a same-sex couple’s “wedding” reception on the grounds of his holding to Christian belief regarding marriage. As a result he was sued by the couple. Now, as reported by National Organization for Marriage president, Brian S. Brown, “”the state came down on the Christian baker. Not only has the Christian baker been order to ‘cease and desist’ from ‘discrimination’ against gay couples, but he and his staff have been ordered to undergo two years of ‘training’ to assure that no further ‘discrimination’ occurs. The baker must report quarterly to the state Civil Rights Commission about how it is changing its policies, its ‘training’ progress and the names of any clients it has refused to serve.”

No longer is this an issue of mere “tolerance,” as the media would like to define it, but an issue of tyranny vs. religious freedom. It is not inconceivable to suggest that ministers who hold to the biblical view of marriage—one man and one woman–and refuse to compromise, may feel the force of government, subjected to reprogramming through forced “training.”   You would expect such from a Communist country or other totalitarian government, but not in “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

 

Ronald Bartanen is minister of the Arthur Church of Christ, Arthur, Illinois