Christians Accused of Misunderstanding Religious Freedom
Last week, Christians were shocked to learn that a pair of Muslim truck drivers had been awarded $240,000 by an Illinois judge after the pair had been fired for refusing to haul alcoholic beverages. The pair claimed that alcohol is against their religion. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the lawsuit against the trucking firm for religious discrimination and wrongful termination.
Speaking on Fox News, Megyn Kelly pointed to the EEOC helping the Muslim Truck drivers win their lawsuit. She claimed it was further proof of Barack Obama’s war on Christianity, saying:
"A jury has awarded a big pay out to a pair of Muslim truck drivers who were fired after refusing to deliver alcoholic beverages; citing their religious convictions. The Obama administration actually represented the two Muslims in this case, but has sometimes taken a very different position in the case of Christians."
However, one blogger took to the Huffington Post to claim that Christians misunderstand religious freedom and that the case of the Muslim truck drivers is different than cases like Christian bakers refusing to bake cakes for homosexual ceremonies.
Dale Hansen first points to seven cases where the EEOC represented Christians in lawsuits against employers who discriminated against them for their religious beliefs. Hansen then attempts to define the difference between what happened with the Muslims and the Christian bakers:
“Of course, rather than cite any of these cases and rationally discuss what the law does and does not allow for when it comes to religious freedom, zealots like Kelly errantly compare the religious freedom of these Muslim drivers to the Colorado cake baker who was found in violation of the law for refusing to bake a cake for a gay wedding.”
“While it may look like these cases are similar, the reality is they are quite different in one important aspect -- discrimination. The job of the cake baker is to bake cakes. When he refuses to bake a cake for a gay couple he is not doing so because his religious beliefs say he can't bake a cake -- he would likely have no issues baking this exact same cake for a heterosexual wedding. He is doing so because his religious beliefs suggest there is something wrong with this couple. In the end, he is not refusing to bake a cake, he is refusing service to someone based on who they are. That is discrimination.”
“The job of the Muslim truck driver is to drive a truck. Neither operator refused to drive a truck that day. What they refused to do was transport alcohol, since doing so was against their religious beliefs. If conservatives want to compare this decision to the Colorado cake baker the apt comparison would be that the cake baker has the right to refuse to include words on a cake that are against his beliefs. The baker could also refuse to provide a cake on Sunday or use alcohol in a cake based on his religious freedom. They are free to object to the specifics of the service if it falls outside of their religious convictions. They are not allowed to discriminate against a person for who they are.”
Hansen’s logic is flawed. He says the Christian bakers were wrong because they discriminated against the person and not the ceremony. In fact, one of the Christian bakers who were fined for civil rights violations did regularly sell his products to homosexuals, but refused to participate in the ceremony based upon his religious convictions. In the vast majority of cases where Christian business owners have been persecuted for their beliefs are the same thing. They don’t refuse their services to homosexuals for routine business, but only when it forces them to participate in a ceremony that violates their faith.
The only difference is that homosexuals have whined and cried to get special treatment. Then they intentionally target Christian business owners, hoping that that they will be refused service just so they can sue and drive the Christian out of business.
As for Obama’s war on Christianity, it has been well documented by myself and others. In the military, Christians are under different restrictions than Muslims. At one military base in the Middle East, Christian military personnel were told to put away their Bibles, crosses and every other Christian item while Muslims were allowed to keep their Korans and prayer rugs openly displayed at all times.
Christian chaplains were told to perform same-sex marriages or face court martial but Muslim chaplains were not given the same ultimatum. Obama was quick to condemn US military troops for burning Korans at their base in the Middle East. He didn’t care that the Korans had been defaced and torn up by Muslim prisoners and that the US troops also burned damaged Bibles at the same time.
What does Hansen have to say about Obama trampling on the rights of Christian with the contraception mandate part of Obamacare? That’s a clear violation of religious freedom. The list of Obama’s persecution of Christians goes on and on. It’s obvious that Hansen is a liberal trying to defend the liberal persecution of Christians in America.
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