ENDA – The End of Religious Freedom?

Flopping Aces

The first amendment to the US Constitution states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.   [emphasis mine]

Now that the ground rules have been established, have you ever heard of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA)?  It has been around since 1994, but has never been passed.  Dear Leader  Barack Hussein Obama supports ENDA’s passage.

So, just what is ENDA?   From (the very liberal) Human Rights Campaign, we learn that ENDA proposes to “afford to all Americans basic employment protection from discrimination based on irrational prejudice.” [emphasis mine]

ENDA will:

• Prohibit employers, employment agencies, and labor unions from using an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity as the basis for employment decisions
• Prohibit covered entities from subjecting an individual to different standards or treatment based on that individual’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity
• Extend fair employment practices to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people

Sounds great! ENDA supporters want it to be viewed as a pro-civil rights bill, with those opposed viewed as anti-homosexual and bigoted. What American would be for discrimination?  But, as the late Paul Harvey used to say, “Here is the REST OF THE STORY.”

ENDA will force people to engage in activities against their religious conscience and beliefs.  ENDA will punish people who wish to refrain from participating in activities they do not condone. ENDA is modeled on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal to discriminate against people simply because of who they are. 

ENDA will impose hiring quotas.  Progressives/Liberals/Democrats (PLDs) think that businesses are vehicles for social engineering. Hiring quotas will require that all businesses, even religious organizations, hire Lesbians, Homosexuals, Bi-sexuals, Transsexuals, and Queers (LHBTQ) who do not necessarily subscribe to the mission of the business or organization, and LHBTQ actions may be against some of its beliefs. PDLs don’t seem to realize  (on purpose?) that businesses exist to make a profit, not to further social engineering.  Personal note: I just can’t use the hijacked word “gay” here.

ENDA will permit the government to use its heavy-handed tactics to “go after” businesses that, in its opinion, don’t adhere to the bill’s intent. Government lawyers would give businesses two choices: Surrender your beliefs or be sued  into bankruptcy and/or be jailed. We can expect even more of what has already happened.  Two bakeries, one in Oregon, one in Colorado, illustrate what we can expect.   In Oregon, the lesbian couple filed a complaint with the state, accusing the bakery owners of discrimination. The Colorado baker was ordered to serve the homosexuals or go to jail for a year.

What part of the first amendment do the LHBTQ crowd and supporters of ENDA in Congress not understand?  It would be offensive if we had no basis for our actions.  But the Bible is replete with examples of condemnation of the LHBTQ lifestyle.  For example, Leviticus 18:22 states: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”   Irrational?  I don’t think so.  In fact, dictionary.reference.com defines irrational as being without reason. Here “reason” means “illogical.” But, by Biblical logic, reasons abound. 

By the way, the Senate passed ENDA in November 2013, 64-32.  But its future doesn’t look so bright in the House of Representatives.

The primary question, if ENDA ever passes, is whether or not the justices on the US Supreme Court will bother to read the first amendment and therefore rule ENDA unconstitutional, or will a majority of them, in classic PLD “knee-jerk” fashion, rule that our constitution discriminates against LHBTQs.  We can already predict how Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor will vote.