Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that same-sex marriages are legal everywhere in the United States, the backlash is predictably underway.\u00a0 Religious conservatives are scrambling to defend their right to refuse services to gay couples who wish to marry or who are already married.\u00a0 They say they are justified doing so because of their deeply-held religious beliefs.\u00a0 I say, not so fast.<\/p>\n
One can claim just about anything to be a religious belief, depending on how one chooses to interpret the Bible, the Koran, the Tao Te Ching, or any other of the hundreds of sacred texts<\/a> of the various world religions.\u00a0 To cite one example, some still insist that interracial marriages violate their religious beliefs<\/a>.\u00a0 Now, all laws against interracial marriage were invalidated by the Supreme Court in 1967, based on the Fourteenth Amendment.\u00a0 But do “religious” people retain the right to refuse services to mixed-race couples?<\/p>\n Let’s substitute the words interracial<\/span><\/em> for same-sex<\/em> in some recent statements about the same-sex marriage ruling.\u00a0 Ask yourself whether the speakers would have then dared utter these words, let alone defend them as a deeply-held religious belief:<\/p>\n \u201cHard questions arise when people of faith exercise religion in ways that may be seen to conflict with the new right to interracial <\/span><\/em>marriage \u2014 when, for example, a religious college provides married student housing only to\u00a0same-race<\/span> <\/em>married couples, or a religious adoption agency declines to place children with\u00a0interracial<\/span> <\/em>married couples.\u201d – John G. Roberts Jr., Chief Justice of the Supreme Court<\/p>\n “There is no doubt that this morning\u2019s ruling will imperil religious liberty in America, as individuals of faith who uphold time-honored marriage and choose not to advocate for\u00a0interracial<\/span> <\/em>unions will now be viewed as extremists.” – Tim Wildmon, president of American Family Association<\/p>\n \u00a0“Now look at our society and take a real good look!!!\u00a0 We have gone against what God has said and I am thoroughly DISGUSTED with The U.S. Supreme Court today!!\u00a0 I give praise to those 4 judges that KNEW interracial<\/span> <\/em> marriage is WRONG and voted against it!!!\u00a0 Our society is just crumbling and my boundaries are being trampled for what I believe in and today, on June 26, 2015 I SLAM MY FOOT DOWN AND SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!\u00a0 My boundaries have been crossed and now it\u2019s time to take it back.\u00a0 I do say right here and now, that interracial<\/span> <\/em> marriage is WRONG because it crosses what our Founding Fathers set up for us and more importantly it has now crosses everything God said!!” – Michael, 17-year-old stepson of activist pastor Russ Hepler of Pennsylvania, who reposted<\/a> his stepson’s Facebook rant<\/p>\n America, you have a long, long way to go.\u00a0 Your arrogant attitudes about LGBT individuals and people of color and tongue are 20th-century relics.\u00a0 You sit and fret about the religious indoctrination of\u00a0Mohammod Abdulazeez<\/a>, when maybe what you should be worried about are the lessons 17-year-old Michael is learning and where he is heading.<\/p>\n _______________<\/p>\n _______________<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that same-sex marriages are legal everywhere in the United States, the backlash is predictably underway.\u00a0 Religious conservatives are scrambling to defend their right to refuse services to gay couples who wish to marry … Continue reading Footnote.\u00a0 A clue to what 17-year-old Michael has already learned is found on Mrs. Hepler’s Facebook page:<\/h5>\n
* A post by Donald Trump: “It’s a national embarrassment that an illegal immigrant can walk across the border and receive free health care and one of our Veterans that has served our country is put on a waiting list and gets no care.”<\/h5>\n
* A status update: “I’ll be homeschooling this year. Sorry for the rest of the families that will have to deal with yet another year of this indoctrination.”<\/h5>\n
* A YouTube video: “The Silent Scream (Full Length)”<\/h5>\n
* A photo of a dog with the caption, “Black Dogs Matter.”<\/h5>\n