Obama: Building a Monument to Tolerance on the Rubble of Religious Freedom

Well, that didn’t take long.

To many, it may seem premature to confront head-on the agenda of the new president, in the initial days dedicated to celebrating his political success and the peaceful transition of power in our republic.

But, sad to say, in the marriage of President Obama’s political destiny to that of these United States, it’s Mr. Obama who chose to cut short the honeymoon.

No sooner had he finished speaking of his fellow Americans in his inaugural address as a people who “have chosen hope over fear [and] unity of purpose over conflict and discord” than his staff posted, on the White House Web site, a virtual declaration of war against those who oppose the demands for special rights and privileges by those who engage in homosexual behavior.

It is the swiftness of the onslaught, not the scope of the agenda, which surprises.  Repeatedly, during the campaign, Mr. Obama affirmed in speeches and on his Web site his wholehearted support for the homosexual legal and political agenda.  Now, that agenda has moved en masse to the front and center of the new president’s parade of “change.”

As posted, the agenda includes:

·         Expanding the definition of, and ramping up the penalties for, “hate” crimes.

On its face, that may sound reasonable…except that punishing “hate” requires the creation of second-class victims.  Every violent crime is rooted in hate, and every victim deserves equal justice.  “Hate crimes” laws create a two-tiered justice system where some victims are “more equal” than others.  What elevates these victims above others?  The mere broadcast of a preference for certain sexual acts.

Violence is an action; hate is an emotion.  “Hate” crimes laws erase that distinction.  How do you defend yourself against charges that you “hate” someone?  Who gets to decide what “hate” is?  How long before simply reading a passage from the Bible is a “hate crime”?  Indeed, the passage of “hate crimes” laws inevitably leads to persecution for ideas that favored “victims” abhor.  Yes, even in America.

·         Expanding “anti-discrimination” employment laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Bottom line:  this is about forcing religious groups (including churches) and private organizations (like the Boy Scouts and businesses) to hire those who whose open announcement of sexual behavior runs counter to the beliefs of the organizations.  And when those organizations point to those beliefs...well, see “Hate Crimes” above.

·         Opposing a constitutional amendment banning same-sex “marriage,” while promoting the legalization of these and other same-sex relationships – granting them the same federal legal rights and privileges as other married couples.

The president is calling for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and the enactment of extensive legislation elevating same-sex relationships to the level of marriage.  In the name of “equality,” these new laws would eradicate thousands of years of moral, social, and legal precedent, open a wide door for the legalization of polygamy and other counterfeits of matrimony, and effectively destroy all meaning of marriage – the expressed wish of many of those promoting same-sex unions.

·         Securing full adoption rights for same-sex couples.

This effectively rewrites all natural definitions of family, since it denies the fundamental need of every child for the parental influence of both a mother and a father.  By eliminating the legal requirement for either one, the courts will basically eliminate the need for both.  Parenting will become legally irrelevant, and birth parents will increasingly find their traditional legal protections trumped by the “emotional” prerogatives of legal strangers.

Many Americans, in their zeal to elect Mr. Obama for other reasons, chose to ignore these promises and their implications when he made them on the campaign trail.  Many, indeed, want even now to persuade themselves that rewriting the laws and reshaping the culture of this country to embrace and promote homosexual behavior will prove harmless to our society and our children’s future.

But it won’t.  One can’t take a sledgehammer to the foundation of the house and expect the house to stand.  Marriage, family, and religious faith are the irreplaceable cornerstones on which this extraordinary nation was erected.  It is the outspoken intent of many of those promoting the homosexual agenda to destroy that foundation.  And President Obama has launched his brave new world of hope and change with a pledge to be not just an accessory to, but the instrument of, that destruction.

“Know,” he warned Muslim leaders of other nations in his inaugural address, “that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.”

President Obama undoubtedly believes that he himself is building a monument to tolerance and equality.  But the nihilistic architects of his agenda have designed that monument to stand on the rubble of religious freedom, recognized by this nation’s founders as our “first freedom.”  And if he proceeds, his legacy will be the incalculable cost of destroying it.