Christian Fundamentalists don’t much like it when I insist my thirteen-year monogamous relationship with Clyde deserves the same respect as a heterosexual marriage. When I say my relationship is worthy of recognition, they say, “You’re forcing your homosexuality down our throats!”
And you know what? That’s okay with me. This is, after all, America. Religious freedom, believe it or not, is the rule. If a Christie Fundie wants to say your loving Uncle Mark is a sinner … well, here’s a microphone, fella. Knock yourself out. I applaud your right to free speech and the free exercise of your religious beliefs.
Christian fundamentalists, however, don’t share my gracious spirit. In fact, it’s pretty ironic that the folks who scream, “You’re forcing your homosexuality down our throats!” the loudest are the same ones who ar hell-bent on forcing their beliefs down the throats of everyone else.
You see, Christian Fundamentalists aren’t happy believing what they believe. (I tend to think that’s because Christie Fundies aren’t happy, period, but that’s another story.) In addition to having the right to believe what they believe, they want two additional rights:
1) The right to constantly attempt to convert you to what they believe, and, if that can’t be done…
2) The right to make it impossible for you to do whatever it is they don’t believe in.
For example: Christian fundamentalists don’t believe in gay marriage. Having failed to convince the majority of Americans that gay marriage would be the End of the World as We Know It, they are now intent on making gay marriage impossible in the U.S. Gay marriage conflicts with their personal faith, so it must be denied to everyone else.
Christian fundamentalists believe drinking alcohol is A Very Bad Thing. Having failed to convince everyone else of this, they vote for dry counties — making the sale of liquor illegal. Drinking alcohol (or, if you’re a Southern Baptist, being seen drinking alcohol) conflicts with their personal faith, so it must be denied to everyone else.
For Christian Fundamentalists, preventing other adults from doing whatever Christian Fundamentalists believe is wrong has become a central tennet of faith. Disagreeing with a practice is not enough. Preaching against a practice is not enough. Declining to participate in a practice is not enough.
As a Christian Fundamentalist, in order to be right with God, you have to step in, draw a line, and make it illegal for others to do whatever you disagree with.
In doing so, Christian Fundamentalists are chipping away at America’s most cherished rights: free speech, free belief, free exercise of faith.
The longer we allow this to go on unchallenged, the bolder the Fundamentalists will become.
At what point will you be moved to say to fundamentalist friends, neighbors, school board members, and politicians, “Enough is enough!”?
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