Some have said this is not the hill to die on. What, then, is the hill to die on? What would the Supreme Court have to decree before other elected officials should use their offices to get in the way? What would they have to decree that would make us all—bakers, florists, and county clerks—refuse, lock, stock, and barrel?
Regarding this question, Dreher has answered, “When they start trying to tell us how to run our own religious institutions — churches, schools, hospitals, and the like — and trying to close them or otherwise destroy them for refusing to accept LGBT ideology. This is a bright red line — and it’s a fight in which we might yet win meaningful victories, given the strong precedents in constitutional jurisprudence.”
But this simply underscores the importance of question seven. How will we have anyone left to fight if our elected officials resign to protect their consciences? And if you don’t want them to resign, but to instead issue marriage licenses, why is it okay for elected officials to offer a pinch of incense to the emperor, but not okay for the bakers and florists? And if we’ve established the precedent that we’re comfortable issuing the licenses despite our religious objections on this hill, then on what grounds will we fight the battle on that hill? Once we’ve grown used to retreating, how will we break the habit?
Or, to come at this question from another direction, if, as Dreher supposes, we’re entering an era where we have a de facto religious test for public office, why would we not choose to have the fight now, when there are still lawyers, judges, and politicians in positions of authority and influence? Why wait until the ranks have been thinned by the American Bar Association, or by lawsuits like the latest from Oregon? While I’m not military strategist, surrendering the high places seems to me to be a poor strategy in a cultural battle.
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