Kerby Anderson

Are conservative Christians being targeted for their beliefs? Many would say that they have been targeted, but can you really prove that? If you are a baker or a photographer or a florist who declines to participate in a same-sex ceremony, you will pay a price. If you cannot in good conscience prescribe an abortifacient, you will come under scrutiny. I have written about such examples in previous commentaries. Professor George Yancey is well aware of the penalties that Christians have paid for their biblical stands on these social issues. So he put together a thought experiment. Could he find at least ten times where non-Christians were not penalized when they declined to provide a service. Here are just a few of the examples he cites. Wal-Mart refused to bake a cake featuring the confederate flag. It did, however, make one featuring the ISIS flag. In another case, you have a Colorado baker who refused to bake a cake with the Bible verse that criticizes homosexuality. Pharmacists were sent a letter encouraging them to use their freedom of conscience to refuse drugs to be used for the death penalty. A landlord refused to rent his apartment to Donald Trump supporters. When the Westboro Baptist Church members found their tires slashed, local businesses refused to fix their tires. The Jim Henson Company announced that Chick-fil-A could no longer sell Muppet toys with their meals due to the CEO’s stance on same-sex marriage. These are just a few examples, and it would be easy to find others. Professor Yancey points out that he finds some of the people and beliefs in his list to be repulsive. That’s not the point. You have prosecution of conservative Christians and not for some of these other examples even though both groups were engaged in the same behavior. He could not find any way to rationalize the inconsistency. His examples demonstrate that conservative Christians have been targeted.