Yesterday I wrote about reaction to Mississippi’s recently enacted religious freedom law. The push back has started in earnest. Companies are threatening boycotts and some states are restricting travel for government officials. We’ve seen this playbook before in reaction to North Carolina’s religious freedom law and the threat of these same actions caused Georgia’s governor to veto a religious freedom bill. These tactics have a particular impact in the South because of its history of actual discrimination, but history is not now and religious freedom is not discrimination.

Many in the socially conservative media are referring to the threats and actions as “bullying.” I get it, but I have to say that I think using the left’s code words against them is a losing proposition. It moves the fight to a battleground that favors them. We have better things to focus on.

Yesterday I mentioned that all of this makes me think about Jesus on trial. I think it is important to note that throughout all the events of Christ’s passion He never whined or complained. During His final moments on the cross He expressed His agony in deeply poignant terms, but through His arrest and several farcical trials He never spoke of how deeply he was being mistreated. He never accused anyone of bullying Him; He never cried “unfair.” This is our example to follow.

Jesus was able to do this because He was focused on the long game. He was unconcerned about the legalities of the moment and far more concerned about the hearts and minds of people for the rest of history. Four hundred years later, His church had conquered Rome. Gandhi learned from Jesus’ example and India became a free nation. Martin Luther King learned from Jesus’ example and civil rights were won for all African-Americans.

There is nothing so discriminatory as force. When one looks at the tactics of the pro-LGBT movement, one must ask who is discriminating against whom. It is they who employ naked, raw force in pursuit of their aims. We do not need to name it, it is transparent – and it conveys a message far more than any words we could use ever would.

What is happening in this country is frustrating and scary and infuriating. They may have today, but we have forever. We have an example and a strength that they cannot hope to match. That is our not-so-secret weapon. That is the weapon that won the battle on which history turns. That is the weapon we should choose to use.