In light of last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision on 303 Creative v. Elenis, I can now act on my religious beliefs and First Amendment rights to set limits on the clients I’d accept.
I am religiously opposed to consulting with anyone who wraps themselves in the flag and talks about freedom and while banning books, history, science, and free speech at the same time.
If you oppose same sex marriage or support laws targeting LGBTQ equal rights, don’t bother calling me because my faith requires me to say no.
If you selectively quote Bible verses to justify your exhausting culture wars and rage machine, don’t describe yourself as a “devout Christian” and ask me for help.
If you believe America was where slavery came to die and students should be taught a version of American history that has White people as its virtuous heroes, Google another firm.
If you think there is a Biblical basis for women being subservient and can’t be trusted with their own reproductive decisions, delete my information from your contact list. My religion leads me to deny you as a client.
If you think guns are a God-given right and should be sold to anyone, including people convicted of domestic violence, and carried everywhere, there no reason to call me because my religion causes me to say find someone else to help you.
If you play God in restricting parents’ right to make medical decisions for their trans kids, I’ll pray for you…but not work for you.
If you think the earth is 6,000 years old and climate change is a belief, I’ll offer you a science book but not time on my calendar.
If you think because you are a Christian, you can use the Bible to bludgeon ohers, you’ve got the wrong number.
If you think freedom is the freedom to ban books, to tell people who to love, to vilify teachers, and to eliminate certain rights for certain people, and quote the Bible while you are doing it, my religion tells me you should find someone else to work with.
When Memphis State University asked me on my application what my religion was way back when, I wrote “cultural Christian.” In other words, I am Christian because of my birth but I recognize the validity of all of the world’s major religions (and the validity of someone who doesn’t believe in any of them).
About the same time, I heard a sermon by Rev. Frank McRae that became my guiding religious belief. Two verses inspired his sermon and me.
The first was 1 John 4: 8 KJV: God is love.
The second was 1 John 4:20 KJV: If a man says I love God but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
Today, it would be more accurately to say brother and sister, but it remains straightforward: the Bible is not intended to be wielded as a cudgel like it is so freely today by those who want to use it to judge, to goad, and to be dismissive about other God’s children.
Right wing Supreme Court Justice Gorsuch wrote that a speaker has a right to control their own message. This blog post is mine.
The First Amendment prohibits Colorado from forcing a website designer to create expressive designs speaking messages with which the designer disagrees. Unless you are “creating” something that is “expressive content” the ruling doesn’t apply to your business. For example, the government couldn’t force you to create content that disagrees with your liberal views…nor your religion, but your views.
That’s a good thing. Wait till Nashville starts trying to control your content. Probably covers you if they try to limit your content too.
But for the normal business person, selling a product, the case doesn’t allow discrimination. It’s expressive content (art) only.
My business is all about creating expressive content but I understand the law the same way as you do. Thanks for the comment.
Amen, brother!