PC Activism Assures Free Market Is Anything But Free

With Barack Obama proudly celebrating Gay Pride month throughout June and the Pentagon planning its first ever event specifically for gay service members, this administration has unquestionably catered to the homosexual agenda.

Before I delve further into the subject I wish to relate, I feel the need to issue a disclaimer, as conservatives are constatnly labeled as hate-filled bigots and homophobes whenever we engage in anything but politically correct speech on the issue of homosexuality. I am not homophobic, nor do I wish any ill on anybody because of their sexual orientation. As a Christian, I do believe they practice sexual sin, though the Bible also teaches we are all sinners, so I cannot judge them because they sin differently than me.

While not afraid of the homosexual community, I am frightened of the impact gay activism is having on this nation’s moral fiber and, as I will explain next, our nation’s freedom.

Gay Pride month began, as many are undoubtedly aware, with a completely ludicrous New Mexico Court of Appeals ruling, ordering the owners of a wedding photography company to pay $7,000 to a lesbian couple because they refused to photograph the couple’s commitment ceremony. I’ll mention in passing the fact that the company in question specializes in wedding photography while same-sex marriage is not legal in New Mexico, which means their ceremony is not a wedding to begin with. That, in itself, is on the verge of arguing semantics, but the overarching problem with the ruling is apparent to anyone who appreciates America’s unique tradition of a capitalist society.

A business owner should be granted extreme liberty in deciding how to provide its product or service to the marketplace. We’ve all see the restaurant bearing a sign that says something to the effect of, “We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.” Though it might strike some as rude and arbitrary, that sign points to what should be the right of any entrepreneur.

I understand the thought process behind laws protecting minorities in employment and housing and, to an extent, I support them. Unfortunately, when citizens give the government an inch, they take 10,000 miles (and usually spend a few trillion dollars for good measure.)

Such is the case when Boy Scout troops across the nation are pressured to allow young boys to go on camping trips with individuals who define themselves through their sexuality.

This over-stepping by gay activists and liberal do-gooder politicians is readily apparent in a court ordering Christian photographers to violate their religious beliefs by providing their service to a gay couple or be forced to pay thousands in penalties.

In response to the ruling, Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence made an excellent comparison, asking if an animal rights activist employed as a videographer should be forced to create a pro-hunting video. The answer, to any reasonable person, is no, but no one ever accused leftists of being reasonable.

Pandering to one societal group under the guise of protecting them from being discriminated against usually results in another group experiencing actual discrimination.

Of course, since Christians specifically and conservatives in general are always viewed as the oppressor by the left, we cannot be the subject of discrimination. We are the easy target, and, like oil on a squeaky wheel, the loudest activist groups generally get to dictate what others in a supposedly free society are allowed to do.

As with Catholic hospitals and organizations being pressured to provide funding for contraceptives and even abortion services, this case shows how those who hold genuine, sacred religious views have little right left to live by that moral compass outside of their place of worship. Likely, that will be the left’s next target. When political correctness is viewed as the religion of the land by those who make the law, any other religion becomes heresy.

A couple of generations ago, it was the common understanding that a man and a woman constitute a marriage. Now, especially after Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage, anyone who believes thousands of years of societal and religious norms are still relevant (and dares to share that view through a private business) is vilified. The court system now has the precedent to make you pay for your heretical beliefs.