opinion

Religious leaders who speak out are at risk of persecution

I graduated from seminary in 1976, a time when the sexual revolution was deeply impacting America. I said at the time that gay rights would be the most significant issue the church would face over the next 50 years. Some smiled and said to me, "Get a grip. Calm down." These were similar words that The Indianapolis Star's Tim Swarens used as he criticized the pastors of the Indiana Pastors Alliance in his April 29 column.

Now we stand on the precipice of a Supreme Court decision unlike any other. It threatens the freedom of conscience of millions of religious people (not just Christians). I find it incredible that we are still told, "Get a grip. Calm down."

Swarens completely misses the point on persecution. The pastors were not saying we are currently being persecuted, as if what we are experiencing is anything close to the beheadings of Christians in the Middle East or the slaughter of Christians in Africa. The pastors were suggesting that with Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act "fix," there now was the potential for persecution here.

As The Star indicated in the same issue, many Indiana communities are now passing nondiscrimination laws, making lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people a protected class. Let me pose a scenario to Swarens: A clergyperson in Indiana, during a community meeting, makes the comment that same-sex marriage is against biblical truth. This violates the nondiscrimination law of that community. The RFRA "fix" will not protect the religious leader. The clergy­person is brought to court, fined or jailed. Would Swarens consider this persecution?

When we get to the point in America where its religious leaders are fined or jailed for daring to speak what their calling and their religious training tell them is true, we have, as the Alliance's executive director, the Rev. Ron Johnson Jr., said, come to a "Bonhoeffer moment." Is this the kind of America we really want?

The Rev. E.P. Albrecht, Westfield