Frank Camp | April 24, 2015
Alan K. Simpson said that “there is no ‘slippery slope’ toward loss of liberties, only a long staircase where each step downward must first be tolerated by the American people and their leaders.”
Arguments supporting religious protections against the gay intoleratti are often linked inextricably to the idea of the “slippery slope.” However, as Simpson said, the term “slippery slope” is a misnomer, it denotes a kind of unaware tumble. What we are witnessing is a deliberate and thoughtful descent in which each step downward must be fought for and won.
Breitbart reports that in Texas, a new bill is being put forward that would protect the freedoms of religious leaders and businesses:
“H.B. 3567 provides that clergy, religious organizations, and employees of religious organizations may not be required to perform a marriage or provide goods, services, or accommodations related to a marriage ceremony if the action would violate their sincerely held beliefs.”
Breitbart also quotes the Texas Pastors Council:
“When there is a conflict between same-sex marriage and religious liberty, Texas law should protect the rights of conscientious objectors. At a minimum, we should protect clergy, religious organizations, and their employees from suits that compel them to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs regarding marriage.”
Should you think this bill is unnecessary, that clergy and pastors would never be forced to perform same-sex weddings, thus violating their faith, you’ve clearly never seen a rock roll down a hill.
At this time in the United States, you may not see such persecution of religious leaders on a large scale. You may be completely unaware of such stories—but they’ve already happened.
In a piece published in October of 2014, Todd Starnes wrote about the Knapps, a Christian couple in Idaho who run a wedding chapel. The two ordained ministers were allegedly told that they could face fines and jail time if they refused to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies.
Snopes then published a statement released by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which filed a preemptive lawsuit on behalf of the Knapps:
“The city claims its ‘non-discrimination’ ordinance requires the Knapps to perform same-sex wedding ceremonies now that the courts have overridden Idaho’s voter-approved constitutional amendment that affirmed marriage as the union of a man and a woman.”
Allegedly, due to the chapel’s registration as a “for-profit business,” as well as a religious corporation, the ordinance could harm the Knapps, as well as any others in their situation.
This is the progression. First, it’s participatory businesses, like wedding-cake bakers, and photographers, then it’s “for-profit” chapels. What do you think will come next? Each step taken down the “slope” brings us closer to a time when the state will coerce clergy into violating their faith by officiating same-sex weddings.
The question must then be asked: Why would a gay couple want a pastor who believes same-sex unions are sinful to officiate their wedding? Because it’s not about rights, and it’s not about equality, it’s about power and dominance; it’s about hatred. The gay mafia and their allies despise anyone who dares open their mouths in defiance of them, and they will continue to press forward until those mouths are forcibly shut.
As of now, clergy are protected—but for how long? That’s why H.B. 3567 was proposed. Those who wrote the bill have the foresight that few possess; they see the bottom of the staircase, and they are acting preemptively to protect people of faith from being trampled by the boots of totalitarianism disguised as civil rights.
Every step must be fought for, and won. Religious freedom is paramount to our survival as a society, and if we sit back and take the abuse from those who execrate people of faith, our future will be just as George Orwell described it:
“If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever.”