There has been a spate of “Religious Freedom” bills of late, where Conservative states have decided that their “religious freedoms” (i.e. right to discriminate) are under attack. The latest Conservative Legislatures to enact such bills are North Carolina, and probably Georgia. Now to be clear, nobody is denying these Christians their right to their deeply held religious bigotry, but that’s not what’s bothering them. What troubles them is that it is becoming less acceptable to practice that religious bigotry in the commons.
At the moment, it’s the cake makers and photographers that stand on the front lines of this “war” against Christians, and the Religious Freedom bills are aimed at protecting these brave men and women from having to bake a cake for—or take a picture of—a gay person.
Of course supporters of these bills are adamant that they’re NOT about “discrimination,” so I thought I would bring back an article I wrote earlier which I think best explains why these bills are just that: attempts at discrimination. In fact, the greater irony is that it’s Christians that are doing the persecution.
Before you continue, though, you may want to enjoy a video from Funny or Die on the latest law in North Carolina.
So let’s kick it old school—playground politics if you will. While the complexities of the persecution ideology are multifaceted, sometimes it helps to generalize just a bit and simplify things into a nice metaphor—sort of the way Aesop did in his fables. In this case, we’ll put our fable in the context of our earliest childhood memories, the playground.
Once upon a time there was an elementary school, packed with students, most of whom looked and acted alike. They shared the same skin color, the same socio-economic group, and the same basic beliefs. They liked the same ideals, played the same games, spoke the same language, and attended the same classes. Students who were different, but could blend in, did their best to do so, careful never to reveal their differences. Those whose very looks showed they were different had no way of blending in, and as a result, were forced sit in the back and be quiet. They were never even called on by the teachers and never noticed by the other students.
While this was difficult for the outsiders, it also kept them safe. However, once the bell rang, and recess was upon them, everything changed. On the playground, the homogenies roamed freely. They had their pick of the swing set, the teeter-totter, the slide, and the monkey bars. When it came to games, they owned all the balls: the kickball, softball, football, and basketball. They all laughed and played together, oblivious to the classmates they had ostracized.
Yet as the school year went on, something extraordinary began to happen. The non-homogenies got tired of sitting in the back of the class. They started raising their hands in class to answer the teacher’s questions. And—horror of horrors—they got bolder on the playground.
Tired of being excluded from playground games, they began to do something so despicable, so craven, that at first, it shocked the entire school—faculty and students alike. These non-homogenies began to work their way onto the playground—with the intent to play with their homogeneous cohorts. They sat on the swings and refused to give up their seat for the homogenies. They asked to be picked for the basketball team—all the while refusing to homogenize themselves it something they could never be in the first place.
There were as many reactions as there were students. Some thought nothing of it and welcomed the non-homogenies into their games without a second thought. Others found it a bit startling, but after some time, they too joined in the games and played together as children do. But there was a third group of children who didn’t like seeing their homogenous group tampered with in any way. They had always looked the same, and now they were confronted with a whole new paradigm.
At first they could still control the playground. All they had to do was take the ball so that nobody else could play with it. Or they could monopolize the playground equipment. But these non-homogenies had an agenda, and a devious one at that. They were determined to play with their friends. This angered this third group so that they began to look for ways to keep the non-homogenies off the playground altogether. They invoked tradition, which stated that only the homogenies were allowed to play. When that didn’t work, they tried to take over the playground by force. They stole all the balls and called dibs on the equipment.
But the non-homogenies were having nothing to do with this anymore. They insisted that the playground was a public space and that all students had a right play there.
In response, the third group grew violent and became bullies. They pushed the non-homogenies off the equipment and picked fights in the middle of games. When the non-homogenies called upon the playground attendants, at first they were ignored.
That’s when the second group of students stepped up to protect their new friends. They pushed back against the bullies. They stood between the bullies and the non-homogenies. When the bullies tried to push the non-homogenies off the equipment, their friends stepped in. Eventually, even the playground attendants—the “law,”—came to realize that the playground was for everybody, and they too took a stand against the bullies.
For the first time in the history of the playground, the bullies found themselves alone and no longer in control. And this time, they had no recourse. They stole the balls, but the playground supplied more. They tried to control the equipment, but the non-homogenies started sharing. The homogenies were losing control.
Because of this, they complained bitterly that THEY were being bullied. They had lost control of the playground and nobody was taking their side anymore. Instead, they found themselves with two choices: either get along with everyone else, or find another way to retake the playground.
Unfortunately for them, their former friends—as well as the non-homogenies were no longer willing to cede the playground to just the homogenies. They wanted to play too. Since the homogenies were not willing to share, they found themselves with no place for them on the playground.
And because of that, they found being on the playground insufferable. Therefore, they began to complain that they were being persecuted.