I’m fiercely proud to be from Kentucky. I become down right evangelical about the great Commonwealth that gave the world bourbon, bluegrass, Post-It Notes, traffic signals, the Moonbow of Lake Cumberland, Bibb lettuce, fried chicken, University of Kentucky Basketball, Loretta Lynn, Abraham Lincoln, Mohammad Ali and disco balls. That’s right, folks. Disco balls.
But this morning I nearly burst into tears sitting at my desk as I read the proposal for Senate Bill 180. You see, Senate Bill 180 would legally protect businesses that don’t want to serve gay, lesbian, or transgender customers. Or to say it differently, it would make it legal to discriminate against certain classes of people.
This is not the Kentucky that I am proud of. This is not my Kentucky.
Senator Robinson, a Republican from London said this about SB180, “All of these business owners want to treat everyone with full human dignity and respect. But their consciences and religious beliefs prevent them from using their skills to promote a celebration that runs counter to what the Bible teaches about marriage. Shouldn’t their rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religion be respected?”
Let’s unpack this a little bit.
First he says “All of these business owners want to treat everyone with full human dignity and respect.” What he really seems to mean, is “These business owners want to treat everyone who lives like they do with full human dignity and respect.” I can’t think of anything more disrespectful and less in-line with treating people with dignity than legalizing discrimination.I may not understand Louisville fans, and while I have a sincerely held belief that their lifestyle is wrong, I don’t want to see them go un-served because of their team affiliation. For all I know, they were born a Louisville fan, and somethings you just can’t change.
Robinson then makes this statement. “But their consciences and religious beliefs prevent them from using their skills to promote a celebration that runs counter to what the Bible teaches about marriage.” Mr. Robinson clearly hasn’t thumbed through his Bible very often and actually read what it says about marriage. In fact, there are a variety of unions and family configurations that were permissible in the cultures and time periods that produced the Bible. These arrangements ranged from monogamy (Titus 1:6) to a man being forced to marry his brother’s widow –never mind if he already has a wife– it seems as though in these instances polygamy was A-OK (Deuteronomy 25:5-10, Genesis 38; Ruth 2-4). In a really shocking twist, rape victims could be forced to marry their rapists (Deuteronomy 22:28-29).
Frankly, I could go on and on, but here’s a handy diagram below that does it much more succinctly.
Criggerpalooza! 