Why A Friend Is Suing Me
I’ve read about incidents like the one expressed in the article I linked below, and I’ve resisted sharing them or participating in the brouhaha that surrounds such issues and events, because I don’t like getting near the vitriol that too often attends how people engage and process issues related to sex, gender, and identity politics. All this said, I am sharing this because I am disturbed by what appears to be an absolutist tendency on the part of those who support same sex marriage.
According to the article (which at the moment I am taking at face value) this lady had an ongoing relationship with this gentlemen that was both professional and friendly. Nevertheless, because she couldn’t endorse his marriage, by providing her services, she has been subjected to both a lawsuit, and, according to another source, some degree of harassment. Regarding the absolutist tendency I mentioned, it seems that those who support same sex marriage will not allow any reservation from others. This lady did not withhold professional services nor friendship from this man because he is homosexual, yet she is not allowed this area of reservation, which is rooted in her religious beliefs about sexuality and marriage. This seems absolutist because when it comes to homosexuality there are no degrees or nuances allowed in how one might respond to this issue.
Wrapping up this brief post, I want to finish by saying I realize that sexuality is a complex issue, as is biblical hermeneutics, and the relationship between religious conviction, politics and the public life, but I am disturbed because in the broader culture’s response to all of these matters I am seeing an absolutism that will not countenance complexity, and neither will it allow for any measure of reservation.
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