As surely as constantly evolving change toward equality for LGBT people sweeps across the country and into the lap and judgment of the Supreme Court, so does the ugly backlash that is legalizing government-sponsored hate and discrimination against LGBT people.

These hateful laws legalize discrimination based on so-called “religious” (read as: Protestant) freedom, but what they actually legalize is second-class citizenship and possible violence against LGBT people, and what’s worse, the people putting these laws forth, not only don’t care, they would most likely be fine with the outcomes.

Why now? Like in the days of discrimination against people of color or women, as long as we knew “our place” and stayed in it – under the complete control of others – they left us alone for the most part. As long as we went along to get along, they saw themselves as benevolent oppressors and we were supposed to be grateful and shut up.

But now, now that we are standing up for our RIGHTS – not special treatment, RIGHTS – under the Constitution, they are putting their collective holier-than-thou boots on our throats and trying to force us back into submission, under the disingenuous cloak of religious freedom.

First, I don’t know who they pray to, but my Lord is loving and compassionate and inclusive. My Lord told us to love others, to not cast the first stone, to not judge. My Lord says that if I believe in Him, I will be saved. My Lord says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

My Lord commanded – not suggested – “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

My Lord loves me and I love the Lord, but that is apparently not good enough in some peoples’ judgement. They have determined that they can discriminate against me because of their personal belief of how they interpret what their religion says to them.

This discrimination is pure and simple hate based. Hate is hate no matter what cloak you wrap it in. Hate is ugly. And debasing. And un-Christian.

Considering that a lot of the world is in horrific turmoil, violence and strife because several groups of religious extremists are demanding that everyone adhere to their version of their religion and then causing harm or worse to people who do not get in lockstep, this is a very relevant and scary issue to crop up in America.

I don’t know if this will be a case of unintended or intended consequences, but these hate laws open the door to much more broad interpretation that can undermine the very foundation of our Constitution. One of America’s founding principles is religious freedom.

The haters have twisted this to mean that they can practice their version of hateful religion and IMPOSE it on other citizens, making their religion the de facto religion of their state and its citizens.

What part of the First Amendment is unclear to them?

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

The slippery religious slope here is that taken to the extreme – and make no mistake, the people in charge of making and enacting these laws are extremists – could allow anyone, any time to discriminate against other people who they deem do not comply with their interpretation of their religion. They could decide that in addition to LGBT people, who they apparently have judged to not be in line with their preferred religion, they have full, government-sanctioned rights to discriminate against people who are known or thought to be any other religion.

Their interpretation of “religion” however, doesn’t stop at someone either labeling themselves or practicing a non-protestant religion, it seems to also be in judgment of anyone of any religion whose behavior they judge to be in conflict with their personal interpretation of acceptable behavior under their own religion.

Under this judgment standard they are allowed by law to discriminate against people who claim to be Catholic, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, Hinduism or others or who practice such religions either in a place of worship or privately in their home.

Furthermore, these laws apparently allow citizens to make immediate, on-the-fly judgments as to who is not adhering to their particular religious beliefs and then to use that subjective determination as a basis for discrimination. There are, intentionally, no stated rules as to what, specifically, allows discrimination nor how far that discrimination may go.

Does someone have to be perceived to have broken a Commandment? A single sentence in the Old Testament? An implication in the New Testament? The word of the God? The word of Jesus? The word of any of the apostles?

Can people use their own, personal interpretation of their religion to discriminate against people who are currently a protected class, but who they simply want to subjugate?

What about women? The Bible repeatedly judges women as inferior to men: “Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.” And, “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.”

So, now, consider the possible consequences:

A child or adult wearing a yarmulke is involved in a car accident. The paramedic arrives on the scene and decides that they have the right, under their religion, to not provide life-saving medical care, because this person appears to have broken the First Commandment, “You shall have no other Gods before Me.” This American citizen is allowed to suffer or die and the discrimination against him is protected by the religious freedom law.

A man who is known to have had an affair by someone who is in a position of hiring decides that since the Bible says that people should not commit adultery, he has the right to not hire that man, based solely on his personal religious belief.

These scenarios could easily be successfully advanced for any number of potential areas of discrimination against ANY citizen:

Health care

Housing

Employment

Education

These government-sanctioned discrimination laws are a slippery slope for everyone but they in effect proclaim open season on LGTB people. Not only will these hate laws be used in “civil” matters to deprive us of rights, but by sanctioning non-adherence to usual standards of conduct toward other citizens, these laws, in essence open the door for them to be inflated to include sanctioning of other hateful behaviors. After all, their government tells them that LGBT people are inferior and not worthy of fair and equitable treatment in this area, surely it means that LGBT people are inferior and not worthy of fair and equitable treatment in other areas, as well.

These malevolent, government-sanctioned hate and discrimination laws are the very reason why the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) should not only grant marriage equality, but should also extend protected class status and full equality to LGBT people. If SCOTUS does not step in, they will have been negligent in their duty to ensure equal rights for all of America’s citizens.