In further evidence that Christians are the last group of Americans that can still face legal discrimination, a Kentucky Human Rights Commission examiner has ordered a screen-printing company to promote homosexual messaging, despite their religious beliefs. Not only that, but he has ordered the company to undergo diversity brainwashing training for their refusal to do so earlier.
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision, many Christians thought we might be entering a new age of religious tolerance. We see it extended to Muslims, Jews, atheists, and even Satanists, so why not Christians? Well, things haven’t really worked out that way. In fact, it seems like these cases of reverse-discrimination have been on the rise lately.
As for the screen-printing company in question, they refused an order for T-shirts in 2012. The shirts were meant to promote the Lexington Gay Pride Festival, and the messaging was nothing the Christian company wanted anything to do with. A sensible American might sympathize even while disagreeing with their choice. But “freedom of expression” in this country has now become a mandate. Not only can you say whatever you want, but you must also say what other people want.
The company, Hands On Originals, insists that their refusal to print the shirts had nothing to do with gay discrimination. “It’s not like we have a sign on the front door that says ‘No Gays Allowed,'” said manager Blaine Adamson. “We’ll work with anybody. But if there’s a specific message that conflicts with my convictions, then I can’t promote that.”
His defense speaks to the fine line between discrimination and religious tolerance. It is similar to the message we’ve heard in cases like these, such as the Colorado bakery punished for not baking cakes for gay weddings. New York state farm owners were similarly penalized when they opted not to host a gay wedding on their premises.
These businesses – and this is something low-level legislators seem unable to comprehend – are not involved in discrimination. They aren’t turning gay people away at the door. To ask people of faith to go against God’s word for the sake of complying with discrimination laws is wrong. In fact, it sheds a light on the problem with these laws in general.
In a culture that is growing increasingly hostile to white, straight Americans, anti-discrimination measures have moved beyond their usefulness. A business owner should have the right to decide who they will serve and how they will serve them. If the public doesn’t like it, the free market gives them the greatest power imaginable: the power to close their wallets and take their business elsewhere. The First Amendment, furthermore, gives them the right to protest, drawing attention to what they see as injustice.
What more is needed? To legally force Christian business owners to go against their faith is a travesty, and it’s beyond the pale of the Constitution. Why do I get the feeling that if the owners of Hands On Originals were Muslim, this story would have had a different outcome?
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