Then BE a Christian, not a bigot

“The Rev. Rick Scarborough, a leading evangelical, frames the movement as the civil rights struggle of the 21st century. ‘Christians,’ he said, ‘are going to have to take a stand for the right to be Christian.’” This is a quote from a Los Angeles Times article in which Rev. Scarborough is justifying a lawsuit by a 22-year old Georgia Institute of Technology student who wants to eliminate policies protecting gays and lesbians from harassment because it supposedly infringes on her religious freedom of speech.

Rev. Scarborough, the Jesus I grew up with talked a lot about love and tolerance and understanding and acceptance. And I don’t recall any exceptions to his teachings.

The slave owners of the 19th century used Biblical verses to justify that African-Americans were not human beings; the anti-suffragette folks used Biblical justifications to try to keep women from receiving the vote. I have absolutely no problem, Rev. Scarborough, if you want to BE a real Christian. But I do have problem when you try to twist both Christian doctrine and the U.S. Constitution in an effort to find a legal basis for your bigotry and intolerance.