by ProfDave, ©2021
(Jun. 28, 2021) — Some years ago, European courts determined that objections to same-sex marriages are “not core Christian beliefs” [Rose, Austin, “Yet More Christians Silenced in Europe…and America,” Crisis Magazine, January 18, 2013]. What, then, are core Christian beliefs? And, more to the point, who decides what the core beliefs of any religion are and how? These questions, arising in European courts, will inevitably arise here as we wrestle with cultural revolution in this country.
On the surface, it is true that same-sex marriage and abortion are not mentioned in the Apostles’ Creed or the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England. Furthermore, in England (where the case in question began), Parliament determines the official doctrine of the Church of England. All the liberals need to do is get SSM through Parliament and make it the fortieth Article. For Roman Catholics, however, someone must cut a deal with the Pope.
Likewise, you may ask what Christians have to do with what you do with your bedroom. The quick answer is nothing: so long as those who do not believe in it are not compelled to pay for it, participate in it, approve of it, or have their children instructed in any of it. The right to privacy has been left far behind. The most ardent “bigotry” these days is to devoutly wish these things were private and far removed from public participation. And approving of it (whatever “it” is) is really what the controversy is all about.
But there is an apples-and-oranges question here. This is not really about what people think or believe. You can believe anything you want to about life and marriage. Actually they are matters of fact. No ruling of the House of Commons, the Supreme Court or of the Pope can make a human embryo anything but human or a marriage out of something that is not marriage. We can change names and attitudes, but not reality.
On the other hand they are matters of moral law. But moral law is not a matter of “core belief” for Christians as it is for Jews and Muslims. The core of Christianity is the life, atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ – not law. That is the one, the Christian, way to God – as close to the core as you can get, even though some liberals claim to get along without any core at all.
But reconciliation with a holy God compels us to attempt an ethical life consistent with His nature. There is a symmetry and consistency to God that demands our worship and imitation. The “culture wars” are about our failure to be consistent with Him – about the acts and dispositions of rebellion He died to forgive and deliver us from, the brokenness He offers to heal. So the problem is behaving, not believing, living out our faith in the marketplace, the school, and – yes – the bedroom.
You see, the “core beliefs” of Christianity – and any other sincerely held religion – have implications. People who believe themselves to be reconciled with God have an obligation to obey what they believe to be his directives and avoid behavior contrary to His nature and His instructions for life. Their consciences are transformed and bound by their reconciliation with their God. For the Christian to contradict that transformed conscience is to contradict who they are and who God is. Believers differ in what they believe is required of them in particular situations – and in their willingness to sacrifice for what they believe – but the principle of freedom of conscience is the same, weak or strong, common or bizarre. No one is free who can be compelled to violate their conscience.
Does religious freedom in America protect Christian behavior as well as Christian belief? The First Amendment “free exercise” clause is pretty clear. This is why the progressive administration is on pretty thin ice unless they are ready to discard the Constitution. A Pentecostal woman won a big settlement from McDonald’s about not wearing pants. It is a lot easier to connect the sacredness of human life and marriage to the nature of God than the sacredness of women’s clothing. But then pants are just a symbol (and only for a few) of sexual liberation, not the “choice” or the “rights” themselves.
So the question remains: how is the Federal government going to get under the hood of American religion, pulling and reconnecting wires that transmit faith into practice, for diverse religious communities, without restricting “the free exercise thereof?” My guess is that they will pretend they are doing no such thing. In effect, they already contend that commercial entities have no religious rights. So those who employ more than fifty people or who serve the public or who have children in school (just about everybody) are exempt from whatever ethical standards their faith provides? Or they lose their citizenship? The new secular ethics overrules religious jurisdiction outside of your place of worship – no, wait, you should be careful not to criticize the new orthodoxy even there. Who says the Feds cannot establish a religion? If your conscience bothers you, just change it. Or else.
David W. Heughins (“ProfDave”) is Adjunct Professor of History at Nazarene Bible College. He holds a BA from Eastern Nazarene College and a PhD in history from the University of Minnesota. He is the author of Holiness in 12 Steps (2020). He is a Vietnam veteran and is retired, living with his daughter and three grandchildren in Connecticut.