Religious Freedom

This is Father Jared Cramer from St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven, Michigan, here with today’s edition of Christian Mythbusters, a regular segment I offer to counter some common misconceptions about the Christian faith. Late last week, I read with interest the concerns of Detroit News columnist, Ingrid Jacques, who warned that “‘Fair and Equal’ could unfairly harm faith-based work.” As a priest who has worked and served on the board of a variety of non-profits, both those that are and are not faith-based, I wanted to know what her concerns were. Her concerns, it seems, are about a petition circulated by a group called “Fair and Equal Michigan.” Their goal is to amend the state’s current civil rights law—the Elliott Larsen Civil Rights Act—to add sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression as protected categories. It would also clarify that protections for religion are for “the religious beliefs of the individual.” A pretty significant 77% of Michigan citizens support this ballot proposal, which also has the support of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and former chairs of both the state Democratic and Republican party. So, at this point, you might be asking, so what is Jacques so worried about with this bill? Her largest concern is the change to specifying the religious beliefs of an individual, limiting the protections of religious expression to say they wouldn’t apply to a corporation, for example. She cites the suit Attorney General Dana Nessel filed against St. Vincent Catholic Charities and Bethany services, insisting that unless they would agree to place children with same-sex parent they could not contract with the state for state-provided adoption services. So, let’s say it again, so everyone can hear. Freedom of religion is about your freedom to practice your religion—it is not about your freedom to insist other people follow the tenets of your religion. And it’s not about your freedom as an organization to make people follow your tenets of religion. Let’s see if we cannot do some work this week to try to break this persistent myth. The so-called cause of religious liberty in our country has gotten this principal backwards for too long. Instead, it is now legal for a Catholic hospital to infringe upon the right of a female employee to use birth control. Jacques believes it should be legal for a Christian adoption agency to infringe upon the rights of a same-sex couple, one who might, for example, be married in the Episcopal Church, to adopt children. How the rights of a gay couple in my church shouldn’t be protected in her eyes doesn’t make any sense to me. At any given time, there are 3,000 children in Michigan foster care who are available for adoption. Gay couples are four times more likely to be raising an adopted child and six-times more likely to be raising foster children than opposite-sex couples. Research has consistently indicated that children raised by LGBTQIA+ parents grow up just as successfully as children raised by opposite-sex couples. (And research has also shown that there is no correlation in the gender identity and sexual orientation of children raised by LGBTQIA+ parents—because, of course, being gay is not something you catch from your parents… I mean, you all know that, right?). Real freedom of religion would be the freedom of a gay couple to adopt a child, using the same resources a straight couple might use. For a religious adoption agency to refuse to place a child with a gay couple is the religious organization imposing their views upon the gay couple and removing that couple’s freedom. It’s discrimination. It has nothing to do with helping the thousands of kids looking for a home. And it has no place in the Christian church. I’m tired. I am tired of religious people attacking the religious rights of women and LGBTQIA+ individuals, insisting that their religion means that they can tell those people how to live, they can advocate for laws and policies that restrict their freedom, they can control the bodies of women and LGBTQIA+ persons. It is past time for other religious people to stand up and say no more discrimination in the name of religion. Practice your faith freely, do what you believe God is calling you to do as an individual—but don’t think you have the freedom to tell someone else they must do what you believe as well. And, for the sake of Jesus and his plea that we allow the children to come to him, if you are an adoption agency, get those kids in a home. That gay couple who wants to love and care for an adopted child is not a threat to your religion, they are a way you can practice your religion more faithfully by helping kids find homes. Thanks for being with me. To find out more about my parish, you can go to sjegh.com. Until next time, remember, protest like Jesus, love recklessly, and live your faith out in a community that accepts you but also challenges you to be better tomorrow than you are today.