{"id":31611,"date":"2015-09-02T06:46:10","date_gmt":"2015-09-02T10:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/exploringourmatrix\/?p=31611"},"modified":"2015-09-02T06:46:10","modified_gmt":"2015-09-02T10:46:10","slug":"protect-your-religious-freedom-by-protecting-that-of-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/09\/protect-your-religious-freedom-by-protecting-that-of-others.html","title":{"rendered":"Protect Your Religious Freedom By Protecting That Of Others"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Religiously<\/p>\n

On Facebook, Joe Childers wrote the following:<\/p>\n

Concerning the county clerk in Kentucky: Religiously neutral civil mechanisms are the only possible way for true religious freedom to exist for multiple religions simultaneously. Civil servants who are religious ought therefore to be even more scrupulous about preserving religious neutrality in their duties than non-religious servants, for they are more directly enjoying religious freedom in their own lives and have more to lose from threats to that freedom.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I asked for permission to quote him, and he gave it, and I am glad, because this makes\u00a0a crucial and timely point, and makes it particularly well.<\/p>\n

Among the others who\u2019ve commented on the topic of Rowan County clerk Kim Davis refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, appealing to her \u201creligious freedom\u201d as justification, are Kyle Roberts<\/a>,\u00a0John Pieret<\/a>, and Hemant Mehta<\/a>. The latter quotes a Kentucky newspaper editorial<\/a>\u00a0on the topic, which says:<\/p>\n

Nothing reveals the absurdity of her position more clearly than her lawyer\u2019s response to the latest ruling against her. Liberty Counsel chairman Mat Staver continues to insist that elected public officials have a constitutional right to pick and choose which of their government duties they will perform based on their religious beliefs<\/strong> \u2014 in other words, that public officials can use religion to discriminate against certain citizens.<\/p>\n

Nothing could be more un-American. What he is advocating would destroy the rule of law, a foundation of our republic. And imagine the chaos, given the wide range of religious beliefs.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

See also what Zack Hunt<\/a> had to say on the topic, which includes this:<\/p>\n

We love to believe that biblical values are clear and being biblically faithful is easy or at least pretty straightforward. While sometimes those things might be true, the Bible isn\u2019t quite as black and white as we want it or need it to be. Because the Bible was written in a language different than our own in a context dramatically different than our own for people who lived and died long, long before our great-great-great-great grandparents walked the earth, understanding and the living out what the biblical writers call us to live and believe isn\u2019t as easy as just pointing to a verse and declaring \u201cthe Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only is that sort of approach to faith incredibly lazy, it creates awkward situations like Kim Davis is currently experiencing (whether she realizes it or not) that can\u2019t be resolved with more proof-texting. And, worse \u2013 much worse \u2013 proof-texting our faith transforms the Bible into a weapon and us into sanctified judges, juries, and executioners who wield the power to exclude, condemn, and destroy lives with nothing but a verse and our sincerely held religious beliefs.<\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t or shouldn\u2019t live with conviction. We can and we should. But that conviction has to come from more than a list of proof-texts and sincerely held beliefs.<\/p>\n

What Ms. Davis would do well to remember, what all of us would do well to remember in moments like this is the teaching of that great Church Father, St. Augustine who, via the teaching of Jesus himself, called us to read the Bible using the Greatest Commandment as the beginning and end of our scriptural interpretation for \u201cthe fulfillment and the end of the Law, and of all Holy Scripture\u201d is love of God and love of neighbor. Therefore, Augustine says, \u201cWhoever, then, thinks that he understands the Holy Scriptures, or any part of them, but puts such an interpretation upon them as does not tend to build up this twofold love of God and our neighbor, does not yet understand them as he ought.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simply put, if your interpretation of scripture compels you to treat your neighbors like second-class citizens who don\u2019t deserve the same rights you enjoy, then you can rest assured that regardless of the proof-texts you have compiled, you have not reached an interpretation of those verses that builds up the twofold love of God and neighbor.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Facebook, Joe Childers wrote the following: Concerning the county clerk in Kentucky: Religiously neutral civil mechanisms are the only possible way for true religious freedom to exist for multiple religions simultaneously. Civil servants who are religious ought therefore to be even more scrupulous about preserving religious neutrality in their duties than non-religious servants, for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":31614,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,80],"tags":[1910,3612,6148,6200,7036,7039,10169,10179,10726,14041],"class_list":["post-31611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-religion","tag-civil-servants","tag-freedom","tag-kentucky","tag-kim-davis","tag-marriage","tag-marriage-licenses","tag-religion","tag-religious","tag-same-sex","tag-zack-hunt"],"yoast_head":"\nProtect Your Religious Freedom By Protecting That Of Others<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On Facebook, Joe Childers wrote the following: Concerning the county clerk in Kentucky: Religiously neutral civil mechanisms are the only possible way for\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/09\/protect-your-religious-freedom-by-protecting-that-of-others.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Protect Your Religious Freedom By Protecting That Of Others\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Facebook, Joe Childers wrote the following: Concerning the county clerk in Kentucky: Religiously neutral civil mechanisms are the only possible way for\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/09\/protect-your-religious-freedom-by-protecting-that-of-others.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-09-02T10:46:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionProf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/09\/protect-your-religious-freedom-by-protecting-that-of-others.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/09\/protect-your-religious-freedom-by-protecting-that-of-others.html\",\"name\":\"Protect Your Religious Freedom By Protecting That Of Others\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-09-02T10:46:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-09-02T10:46:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\"},\"description\":\"On Facebook, Joe Childers wrote the following: Concerning the county clerk in Kentucky: Religiously neutral civil mechanisms are the only possible way for\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/09\/protect-your-religious-freedom-by-protecting-that-of-others.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/09\/protect-your-religious-freedom-by-protecting-that-of-others.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/09\/protect-your-religious-freedom-by-protecting-that-of-others.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Protect Your Religious Freedom By Protecting That Of Others\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/\",\"name\":\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\",\"name\":\"James F. McGrath\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James F. McGrath\"},\"description\":\"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Protect Your Religious Freedom By Protecting That Of Others","description":"On Facebook, Joe Childers wrote the following: Concerning the county clerk in Kentucky: Religiously neutral civil mechanisms are the only possible way for","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/09\/protect-your-religious-freedom-by-protecting-that-of-others.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Protect Your Religious Freedom By Protecting That Of Others","og_description":"On Facebook, Joe Childers wrote the following: Concerning the county clerk in Kentucky: Religiously neutral civil mechanisms are the only possible way for","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/09\/protect-your-religious-freedom-by-protecting-that-of-others.html","og_site_name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","article_published_time":"2015-09-02T10:46:10+00:00","author":"James F. McGrath","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ReligionProf","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James F. McGrath","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/09\/protect-your-religious-freedom-by-protecting-that-of-others.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/09\/protect-your-religious-freedom-by-protecting-that-of-others.html","name":"Protect Your Religious Freedom By Protecting That Of Others","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-09-02T10:46:10+00:00","dateModified":"2015-09-02T10:46:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf"},"description":"On Facebook, Joe Childers wrote the following: Concerning the county clerk in Kentucky: Religiously neutral civil mechanisms are the only possible way for","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/09\/protect-your-religious-freedom-by-protecting-that-of-others.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/09\/protect-your-religious-freedom-by-protecting-that-of-others.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/09\/protect-your-religious-freedom-by-protecting-that-of-others.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Protect Your Religious Freedom By Protecting That Of Others"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/","name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","description":"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf","name":"James F. McGrath","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"James F. McGrath"},"description":"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.","sameAs":["https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}