Lawsuits, insanity, and salvation

After Houston’s lesbian mayor, Annise Parker, subpoenaed local pastors to turn over sermons and correspondence that mentioned homosexuality and gender identity to city attorneys, Christians were alarmed. The subpoenas, which were in reaction to a lawsuit against the city’s so-called non-discrimination ordinance, looked a lot like attempted religious intimidation and suppression.

After a backlash, Parker rescinded the order. But the Texas Supreme Court recently issued an order of its own: Houston must repeal the ordinance or put it on the November ballot. Parker said she’ll place it on the ballot. Pray that the people of Houston vote in favor of freedom.

Despite the court’s action, the pastors decided to sue the mayor anyway, claiming Parker violated their civil rights with the subpoenas and voters’ rights for not allowing them to vote on the ordinance in the first place.

“The purpose of this lawsuit is not to retaliate for her wrongful behavior,” the pastors said in a statement, “but instead is to create a deterrence to all future Mayor Parkers to let them know once and for all, if you’re going to violate rights, there will be reckoning and accountability in a court of law.”

In a statement, Parker wrote that the suit against her was about politics, not religious freedom (and the ordinance wasn’t?): “It is being waged by a small group that wants to take Houston backward instead of moving it forward. I respect the pastors’ right to use our legal process how they see fit, but their energy would be better invested in making sure Houston remains a welcoming, inclusive city that does not discriminate.”

Under the ordinance, a Christian business owner with a certain number of employees could be fined (and probably sued) if he declined to hire a man pretending to be a woman. A welcoming and inclusive city, Mayor Parker, would respect the rights of its religious, taxpaying residents and not threaten them with fines when they refuse to celebrate what God calls sin.

Think about what’s happening. Our government is trying to coerce religious people, Christians in particular, to go along with the “gender identity” confusion trend and pretend we don’t know that a man in a dress and makeup is still a man. Although the Houston City Council technically removed the “restroom” portion of the law, does anyone believe that’s the end of it? Christians with businesses that serve the public might find themselves in court if a customer decides to make an issue of it. (Modesty, privacy, and safety are “transphobic.”)

In our insane, fallen world, this is all considered progress, rational, and inevitable. It isn’t. We should commend the pastors for pushing back and standing up for their rights and ours. The homosexual and transgender lobby won’t stop. There’s blood in the water. But resistance isn’t futile. We still have rights and the will to resist. More important, we have the greatest gift: salvation.