I grew up in an evangelical home, believing (because I was told so) that evangelical Christians were persecuted. Unfortunately, the growing success of the LGBTQ rights movement has given evangelical Christians one more way to see themselves as persecuted—because, they argue, their religious freedom includes the freedom to discriminate. Even here, though, many evangelicals are so quick to claim that they’re being persecuted that they’ll go out of their way to do so.

It seems World Magazine’s editor-in-chief, Marvin Olasky, is a longterm participant on Airbnb. In addition to using the service for themselves when they traveled, they also made their own home available on Airbnb when they were out of town. “We made money; Airbnb made money; the city of Austin and the state of Texas made money (15 percent of our gross revenue),” Olasky explains. But all of that was about to change.

In January, Olasky’s wife, the one primarily responsible for preparing their house for Airbnb guests and scheduling, received an email from Airbnb. “We’re asking all hosts to confirm their commitment to welcoming guests of all backgrounds,” the email read. It then asked Olasky’s wife to affirm the following pledge: “I agree to treat everyone in the Airbnb community—regardless of their race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age—with respect, and without judgment or bias.” As he explains, this pinged Olasky’s persecution radar:

Hmm. We had heard of a new Airbnb policy, but all Airbnb had sent us before was a vague statement about treating everyone with respect, which we always have done. We probably have had gay and lesbian guests, and maybe transgender guests as well: We haven’t asked. What gave us pause was the last clause: “without judgment or bias.”

This appears to be a grammatical disagreement. When I read that sentence (“I agree to treat everyone in the Airbnb community—regardless of their race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age—with respect, and without judgment or bias.”) it’s quite clear that the phrase “without judgement or bias” is attached to the verb “treat” at the beginning of the sentence. In other words, Airbnb asks its hosts to treat every guest “without judgement or bias.”

But that is not how Olasky read it. Olasky saw criminalization of thoughtcrime.

Seeking some clarification, I went to Airbnb’s FAQ page and saw this response to inquiries from those with “strong religious beliefs”: “Being an Airbnb host does not require that you endorse all of your guests’ beliefs, but simply that you respect the fact that such differences exist and be inclusive despite the differences.” I respect that fact, but the pledge Airbnb asked us to sign goes beyond it: “without judgment or bias.” That’s moving from action to thoughtcrime.

This is not how words work. The pledge asks hosts to “treat” guests “without judgement or bias.” That is not moving from action to thoughtcrime. It’s asking hosts not to discriminate against guests in their actions, which Olasky says he and his wife were ok with. And if they’d had questions about the language and meaning, the clarification offered on Airbnb’s FAQ page ought to have set them at rest—Airbnb does not require hosts to endorse or share or approve of their guests beliefs, simply to treat them with respect and in an inclusive manner.

It’s as though Olasky made a point to read Airnbnb’s pledge in the most uncharitable way possible. Which in fact it appears he did.

… Airbnb is going beyond that to require hosts to police their private thoughts about their guests. Taken literally, this is a nonsensical mandate. Even limiting the no-judgment policy to the stated protected categories, is Airbnb requiring a Ukrainian host not to harbor judgmental thoughts about a Russian guest, or an elderly host not to judge the ethos of a millennial guest?

Way to throw some millennial hate in there, but no, no Airbnb is not asking hosts to not harbor judgmental thoughts about guests. It’s asking hosts to not treat guests with judgement or bias. Grammar, how does it work?

This may not be Airbnb’s intent, but language is important. Airbnb’s expansive statement requires many across the worldview spectrum either to agree to Airbnb’s governance of their personal thoughts and beliefs or leave the platform.

Yes, language is important. See above.

So we said no to Airbnb, and then received this notice: “Declining this commitment means that your Airbnb account will be canceled, and your future reservations will be canceled.” Not only did Airbnb cancel our account, but we cannot even make reservations for ourselves through Airbnb, which we’ve done several times in Florida, Michigan, and California. The Church of Airbnb has now excommunicated us.

Maybe they could call customer service about getting their ability to make reservations reinstated? Or—it’s possible that Airbnb doesn’t want guests who won’t agree to treat other Airbnb participants without judgement or bias either, because that could be awkward for hosts, which Olasky might see if he wasn’t so fixated on making Airbnb’s pledge into an attempt to police thoughtcrime.

Ironically, another FAQ answer states, “This commitment is an important step towards creating a global community where everyone can truly belong.” Truly belong, I suppose, as long as we don’t read the company policy, thoughtfully consider its implications, and answer honestly.

There’s an episode in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend where Greg takes Heather to meet his mother and stepfather, and their two children. On the way over, Greg tells Heather that his mother is a terrible person and that the entire family is phony. But to her surprise, Heather finds that Greg’s mother is kind and caring and that the entire family is generous and loving, working to include Greg in every way possible. It’s Greg who is the problem, reading negative intentions into every action. Greg’s mother and stepfather try to clear things up, but Greg refuses to listen, interpreting their every move through his specific lens.

I’m getting the same vibe here, while reading Olasky’s article. Olasky sees persecution because that is the lens through which he views the world, and from that perspective Airbnb’s FAQ attempting to assuage his concerns must be nothing but a ruse.

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