I recently read this article about new legislation being proposed in Arizona. It would allow "business owners with strongly held religious beliefs to refuse service to gays." I am trying to wrap my head around what the proponents of this bill are trying to achieve.
Refusing to do business with someone simply because he/she is gay is discriminatory. That would be like refusing to do business with me because I have red hair. And how do you weed out whom to do business with? Does everyone have to take an oath before walking through your door, or do you have a special gay detector? Instead of the outdated, "smoking or non-smoking," will we now be greeted with, "hetero or non-hetero"? The number of businesses where ones sexual preference has any bearing on the transaction are probably very limited.
Why not do business with gays? Is it because they are sinners? I have a newsflash for you. We are all sinners! I guarantee that Jesus never turned away sinners, so claiming the Christianity defense doesn't exactly hold water. Refusing to sell a taco to someone because you don't like his brand of sin is discrimination, plain and simple. I doubt that not repairing someone's car will make him or her decide that being gay isn't worth the trouble. Maybe the proponents are hoping all the gay people will leave Arizona. Great. You've cleansed your state of all the "undesirables" and life is hunky dory!
Now, about the adulterers, liars, gossips, porn addicts, blasphemers, gluttons, and...and...and. Your "strongly held religious beliefs" include a dim view of these sins, too. This reeks of hypocrisy.
I know this doesn't sound like the typical stance most people would expect from me. At least, not those who think they know me and all Christians. Don't worry. I will not disappoint. I just chose to make the other side of my argument in another blog. Look for the flip side in Complicity of Sin.
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