Christianity, meet your future

"Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual. Continue steadfast and with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us"

Last week brought many sad stories and disappointments: a dead Syrian child washed ashore, a cop killed in Houston, and a Kentucky county clerk jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.

When I moved from covering politics to faith and culture, my goal was to bring women together across the political spectrum to solve problems with civility and compassion. I despise the contentious nature of politics. I long to be the sweet church girl who locks arms with those different from her and writes about heart-warming Christian matters, but current events will not allow me. That girl will have to wait.

This issue needs to be discussed first.

Kim Davis, the clerk at the center of the story, sat in jail over the Labor Day weekend while the rest of us enjoyed life.

I hope God was with her in jail, because some Christians abandoned her.

LifeSiteNews writes:

According to hordes of citizens, her own governor, multiple courts, the ACLU, and at least three presidential candidates, Davis should check her First Amendment rights at the door — as well as rights protected by the Kentucky Constitution and her state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

That is appalling, but not surprising or new. Two thousand years ago, the apostles were ordered to stop preaching Christ, but like Davis they refused to obey man’s law over God’s, despite the threat of punishment.

What is new, however, is the shameful abandonment of Davis by so many Christians and conservatives. One of America’s bravest Christians is being thrown under the bus for simply following the example of Christ’s original followers.

Almost as disturbing are conservatives who are pressing Davis to capitulate — suggesting or demanding that Davis hand out homosexual ‘marriage’ licenses or resign. Such a position shows little appreciation for religious freedom and the rights of conscience.

The hatred towards believers in traditional marriage was apparent before the Supreme Court’s ruling.  Just ask the Christian wedding vendors who declined to participate in gay weddings or the owners of Memories Pizza in Indiana after they were asked a hypothetical question about gay marriage. The high court’s decision had barely reached the public when progressives began calling for churches to lose their tax exempt status if they did not perform same sex ceremonies.

I was open to gay nuptials. When it became clear same sex marriage and religious freedom could not coexist, I had to acknowledge an uncomfortable truth. This well-funded and radical movement within the LGBT community voices their long-term goals of forming a coalition of progressive voters to obliterate religious freedom. I wrote about this before and warned conservatives about the effort to change the face of Christianity.

For this movement and its supporters, marriage isn’t the final destination.

LifeSiteNews brought the movement’s goals to their readers’ attention as established by The Nation, a gay magazine:

• Disestablish marriage
• Pass strong LGBT non-discrimination laws
• Ban all religious liberty laws
• Demonize pro-family conservatives and silence all dissent
• Push a radical political agenda

They are well on their way to meeting their goals.

There are over 120 other locations in her state where couples can get their licenses, yet the media and activists, with cameras in tow, wanted Kim Davis to be the one and only clerk issuing those licenses.

Slate tried to soothe conservatives:

It’s just wrong to spook voters about gay rights by arguing that gay people are coming for their churches. It’s not gonna happen. Not just as a tactical matter, but also as a legal one. If that ever changes, it will be because we’re as united about the pernicious nature of anti-gay discrimination as we are about racial discrimination. Or until no one wants to belong to a church that doesn’t perform same-sex weddings, any more than they’d want to be in a church that forbids interracial ceremonies. Maybe we should be there. But I don’t need to tell you we’re not.

This isn’t comforting at all. Are they coming for our churches? Shaming a person or a church publicly is a powerful and effective tactic. This can accomplish what the government and courts can’t touch.

As National Review mentioned, Kim Davis wasn’t violent or aggressive, and she wasn’t burning buildings or trashing cars. Her reward for that: her personal life has been on display. Her clothing, hairstyle, and home state provided ammunition for the media. Michael Catherwood offered to kill her and referred to her husband as a “creepy giant farmer.” The View called her a “bitch” and “a monster.” Mollie Hemingway wrote about Buzzfeed’s video “I’m Christian, but I’m Not,” which featured people discussing how they weren’t “homophobic, or close-minded, or uneducated, or judgmental, or placing themselves on pedestals” like other Christians.

What kind of  media crucifies Kim Davis, but barely mentions cop killers or child-raping Islamic terrorists?

The very crowd accusing others of hate and ignorance displayed vivid intolerance. This kind of rhetoric is irresponsible and gets people killed.  Kim Davis’ legal position is being debated, but what isn’t mentioned is the media’s unprofessionalism and their  unwillingness to understand Christians.

Davis had some support, but those within the Christian community who thought she should resign ignored the media’s treatment of her and hid from sight. The judge’s decision to jail this woman without bail, while other prominent lawbreakers within our current administration roamed free (Lois Lerner? Hillary Clinton?), didn’t spark the outrage it deserved.

As LifeSiteNews mentioned, early Christians defied the law to preach the Gospel. What would Christianity look like today if the apostles had bailed on one another? What modern Christian would want to endure ridicule by media snobs, while suffering abandonment from others?

Kim Davis, a Democrat jailed by a Republican judge, didn’t support a left wing cause, and she refused to surrender. Kim Davis’s quiet rebellion was unacceptable, and her punishment was meant to deter anyone who thinks outside the progressive box. If she were a pretty, petite woman on the West coast championing gay rights, she would have been celebrated.

Mark Levin said this about the Left and some conservatives who think she “should follow the rule of law”

What they mean is, not the rule of law, but rather that you will accept the fate of this nation as dictated by the left or you’re going to be punished. That’s what they mean as they try to institutionalize and enshrine their leftist agenda into the law so they can use the law against the law-abiding.

Just because a court issues an opinion doesn’t make it lawful. Just because a president uses his pen and his phone doesn’t make it lawful.

Tyranny comes in many forms.

I love my gay friends and want them to be happy. I also love my church and my Christian lifestyle. If we value each other, we can find a way to accommodate gay couples AND religious people.

If traditional marriage supporters do not stand up to this horrendous treatment, we will be banished to the edges of polite society. If we do not start standing up for our First Amendment rights, we will lose our freedoms. If you think most churches can survive after losing their tax exempt status or half their membership because it’s too difficult, please think again.

If we are to have a respectful debate aimed at balancing gay marriage and religious freedom, the hatred aimed at traditional marriage proponents must end.