Jewish Ham and Gay Christian Cakes

I saw a news story this morning from South Carolina where the newspaper seems surprised that an openly gay lawmaker was elected in a deeply Christian and conservative district.

This shows a complete and utter misunderstanding of the Christian faith. It’s as if the author of the article would expect evangelical Christians to run an openly gay man out of town on a rail. They don’t seem to understand that Christians are some of the most tolerant people on the planet. In fact, in Christian nations, you'll see great tolerance shown towards those who live and believe differently. That great tolerance was enshrined in our Constitution, written mainly by Christian men.

What we don’t appreciate is a perversion of our faith by those who wish to change us. Homosexuality is a sin. It always has been in the Jewish/Christian faith, and until Jehovah God instructs us differently, I suspect it will remain so. Lying and stealing are also sins, by alas, nobody has asked us to change our views on those issues yet.

Because we don’t see homosexuality as acceptable, we do not feel comfortable embracing it within our churches, although, some churches that are more “worldly” have. You can see parallels in the Jewish faith. The strict adherents to Judaism will not eat pork. However, there are some Jews who aren’t really that strict who enjoy the occasional ham sandwich. It depends upon your personal religious commitment as to how you approach your faith and apply it to your life. Thankfully, in America, this is your right. Go to many Muslim nations where they have religious police, and you won’t have that freedom. Over there, you may be imprisoned, or worse, for enjoying that ham sandwich. (Muslims don’t eat pork either)

Most Christians see the gay community the same as we see others of different faiths or creeds. As long as they don’t bother us, we don’t care. Do Buddhists come into our churches and demand that we worship Buddha?  Do Muslims come in and demand that we pray to Allah? Are Jews allowed to come into our churches and remove all references to Christ? Obviously not. Why then are gay people coming into churches, many times the very church they attended their entire life, and demanding that the church change its views on homosexuality because of them? Should the church change its views on rape, lying, or murder because those people come to our churches too? No. We show the same compassion towards sinners that Christ asked of us. It does not mean that we must accept sinfulness as normal. Sin is sin and the wages of sin is death. That is fundamental Christian bedrock.

Do we see homosexuals going into synagogues and mosques demanding the same treatment? If so, I don’t see it. It’s funny to me that I’m only witnessing the attack on Christian values and beliefs, and not the same treatment towards Jews or Muslims.

Why isn’t the gay community asking Jewish and Muslim bakers to bake them gay wedding cakes? Why are they suing Christian bakers for refusing? Isn’t it the right of anyone in this country to refuse to act in a manner that they see as endorsing anything that is contrary to their religion? Is refusing to design and deliver a cake for a gay couple to a gay wedding, truly discrimination? If a gay customer came into a bakery and wanted to purchase a cake, already made, and the owner refused because the customer is gay, that is discrimination. However, asking the baker to personally design and deliver a cake for a gay wedding, something they would not normally do, and requiring them to do so, is not the same thing. It's the bakery owner's religious right to refuse.

If I go into a Jewish delicatessen and want to order a sandwich, they cannot refuse me as a Christian. I have to purchase what they have available. I can ask the deli to serve certain things, but they are under no obligation to cater specifically to me. If I want a ham sandwich, I cannot force that deli to serve ham. I don’t have a right to a ham sandwich. They are not discriminating against me or my religion by refusing to carry or make me a ham sandwich. If I want a ham sandwich, there are plenty of other places to get one. Their refusal to serve me a ham sandwich doesn’t indicate a hatred towards me. It indicates that they are living within their religious beliefs, something they have a right to do. The same ought to apply to the Christian baker. Sadly, it doesn’t.