The state Supreme Court decision OK'ing civil rights laws for suppression of doctors' consciences is a wolf in sheep's clothing; it is also part of an alarming pattern. The decision held doctors liable after they refused — for religious reasons — to inseminate a lesbian. The doctors referred her; there was no injury to the woman as she was inseminated and gave birth. (Provable injury is the first criterion — traditionally — in a court's decision to even hear such a case.) But the court said doctors lose their right to free speech and religion when licensed to practice medicine in California. And — if the experience of northern Europe and Canada is any indicator — pastors will lose those rights should Proposition 8 fail in November. That is because courts in those nations have found pastors (and any who express politically incorrect views) guilty of "hate speech."
Thomas Elias writes in these pages (Sept. 2) that Proposition 8 is all about "fading prejudices." He claims that no one has shown that legalized gay marriage detracts from the rights of traditionally married couples or that any harm comes from the practice. It is Elias who displays prejudice — of the most incredible and unreasoning kind.
Repeated studies show that heterosexual marriage becomes less frequent and shorter lived in the wake of legalization of gay marriage. But couples do not stop having children; they are just less likely to raise them together. That leaves an entire generation at risk of being under and even unparented — and the jury is long in on the damage that does to children. Gays themselves fare no better — their marriages tend to be short and characterized by multiple partners — and their high rates of suicide, addiction, domestic violence and disease are not reduced because they are not related to societal acceptance. None of this is opinion; let readers fire up search engines and see for themselves.
I have personally experienced prejudice and persecution within my own church denomination for more than 20 years over this issue. I have been called a bigot by leaders above my pay grade and forced to take "awareness training" on grounds that if I knew some gays and heard their stories I would be "nicer" to them. In fact I know more former homosexuals than most liberals know in the lifestyle. I have counseled gays and prepared them to die from AIDS. I have defended them from abuse. But I understand that love without truth is not love at all. And the truth is that freedom of speech and religion enables us to discover reality — and to benefit from it. These freedoms are inalienable gifts from the God, who loves us all; they are simply codified in our Constitution. The kind of prejudice represented by Elias and his allies is simply unacceptable. A yes vote on Proposition 8 protects the gifts and sends the prejudice to the ash can of history — where it belongs.
The Rev. James Wilson lives in Redding.
http://www.redding.com/news/2008/sep/15/proposition-8-threatens-freedom-religion/
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