Cedarville Magazine, Fall 2014

8 | Cedarville Magazine Speaking up as the risks increase Excerpted from remarks made by Jennifer Marshall at the Religious Freedom Summit on October 9, 2014 In the last few years, we have seen court decisions that have struck down the federal definition of marriage and state laws defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. The challenge has very quickly escalated from simply debating the definition of marriage. Now we’re having to defend even the right to speak and to act consistent with the truth about marriage being the union of a man and a woman. Recent Challenges Cynthia and Robert Gifford run Liberty Ridge Farm in upstate New York where they host weddings and other events. In 2012, a lesbian couple approached the Giffords about holding their wedding on the farm, but the Giffords declined on the basis of their religious belief.The [lesbian] couple took the matter to the NewYork Division of Human Rights, and in July, an administrative law judge fined the Giffords $13,000 for discrimination. The Giffords were told to institute anti-discrimination re-education training for their staff. Instead, the Giffords have decided to stop hosting weddings, and they are appealing the decision. This spring, the President announced that he would issue an executive order regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employment in organizations that contract with the federal government. Religious groups have contracted with the government to provide aid and development relief abroad. Fourteen Christian leaders, including Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, sent a letter to the President asking that religious groups be able to continue hiring according to their mission and standards of conduct. The executive order issued this summer did not heed these appeals. The President of Gordon College, an evangelical campus in Massachusetts, signed the letter. The public schools in the town of Lynn, Massachusetts, announced they were severing ties with the college, which has provided after-school tutoring and other services. Backlash against participating in civil discourse should make us very alarmed. In 2012, Angela McCaskill, Associate Provost for Diversity and Inclusion at Gallaudet University for the Deaf inWashington, D.C., was put on administrative leave. McCaskill had signed a petition to put a referendum on the Maryland ballot so citizens could vote on a same-sex marriage law. She’s been reinstated, but this kind of treatment is appalling. So is the purge of Brendan Eich. He was the CEO of Mozilla, and he was run out of that post April 2014. He had given a donation six years earlier to the campaign in California to have a ballot issue on whether marriage would be the union of a man and a woman. Practical Responses When basic freedoms such as voicing our perspectives in the public square are attacked, we must speak up. Here are four specific steps we as Christians should take: Continue to speak and to act consistently with biblical truth about marriage and sexuality. Secularists may argue that when Christians try to develop a moral consensus around a point of view, that amounts to forcing one’s religion on other people. Secularists sometimes try to argue they are the only ones who offer a genuinely neutral point of view. Neutrality is a myth. Every public policy makes moral judgments about what is good. We need to engage in these debates. Defend the freedom to speak and to act consistent with our convictions. It is a matter of interest in the common good to stand up for freedom of speech against coercive policies and cultural trends. Expect and call on others to use reason — not coercion or intimidation — to make their points. Seek out the facts about public policy and legal accommodations that can help resolve these tensions. That’s what laws like the Religious Freedom Restoration Act are all about, balancing competing interests in a pluralistic society. Jennifer Marshall is the Vice President for the Institute for Family, Community, and Opportunity for The Heritage Foundation. She holds a Master of Arts in religion from Reformed Theological Seminary and a master’s degree in statecraft and world politics from the Washington-based Institute of World Politics. Backlash against participating in civil discourse should make us very alarmed.