The Intolerance of Modern Tolerance

(CHRISM NEWS/ SUZANNE CARL) Religious liberty is under attack in our country. We know that the federal government has taken away conscience protections for employers who do not wish to provide abortafacients and abortion services to employees.

We know that since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, The Government Accountability Office has confirmed that federal tax dollars subsidize 1,036 plans that cover elective abortion. We have seen the crazy stories about purple penguins and young people suffering gender dysphasia being encouraged in schools to go further down a dark path to pain. But now, the very people we count on to speak the truth are being silenced.

Mayor Annise Parker of Houston, Texas, has asked lawyers working for the city to subpoena sermons from pastors who spear-headed a failed petition drive to repeal the city’s equal rights ordinance. Mayor Parker has special interest in this ordinance, as it primarily concerns discrimination against members of the LGBTQ community, and Ms. Parker is a lesbian.

The ordinance is known by the acronym HERO. It is perhaps the most consistent feature of legislation that removes rights from conservative and/or religious people that language is used to mean the opposite of what is actually in a law. The Affordable Care Act is not affordable, and denies more care than provided under our old system. So too, the HERO ordinance in Houston, persecutes the real heroes who refuse to accommodate the open sexual sins of contemporary culture.

So the very people who ask for tolerance, proclaim it on their bumpers, and express their PRIDE at rallies to show how welcoming they are of the strange, different, and uncommon, have no tolerance left for those who disagree with their choices.

But for now this is all happening elsewhere, right? It couldn’t happen here in Omaha. But it can.

Omaha’s city ordinance gives members of the LGBTQ community the right to file complaints with the city’s Human Rights and Relations Department if they believe they have been discriminated against or refused a public accommodation. Here is a list of some of what has happened in other parts of the country when local Human Rights commissions became involved in alleged cases of discrimination of the LGBTQ community:

• A family owned photography studio was fined over $6,600 for refusing to take pictures at a same-sex commitment ceremony.

• Even though their belief that marriage is between one man and one woman is in accordance with Oregon law, Melissa and Aaron Klein have been found guilty of discrimination for refusing to bake a ‘wedding’ cake for a same sex couple. The family has even received death threats, because those who want their cakes are so very tolerant.

• In Madison, Wisconsin, transgendered students, particularly males, are allowed to use the women’s locker rooms and restrooms, while in transition. I apologize for the frankness, but this means a boy with a penis is undressing in the same rooms as girls aged 14-18. In other circumstances, this would be considered a sex crime. He would be a flasher.

• In Maryland, ministers may no longer refuse to marry same sex couples.

• Rather than be forced to make adoptions to same-sex couples, Catholic Charities in Massachusetts has left the adoption business.

• The same is happening in Illinois.

We here in Omaha have been saved so far from these kinds of attacks on innocence, religious liberty, and the right to conduct business as we see fit. Tolerance is a fragile thing in the hands of the faithful. We are called to love the sinner and hate the sin. But the day is near when we will be forced to applaud the sin or face fines, threats, and worse.

In the meantime, we must be firm in our beliefs. Persecution is coming. Be prepared.

#opinion