There Are Limits to Religious Freedom
Currently in the city of Frankfort , Kentucky where I serve as a pastor, a fairness law is being considered by our City Commission that would prohibit discrimination against the LGBT community. The ordinance, if passed, will be an amendment of the city’s fair housing laws, adding new sections banning discrimination in the categories of public accommodations and employment. It also adds “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the list of classes already protected under state and federal law. The primary opposition to the fairness ordinance is coming from conservative Christians. Hershael York, Pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort , recently wrote an op-ed that appeared in the Frankfort State Journal signed by fourteen other local clergy. The op-ed was titled, Fairness Ordinance hurts people of faith. The basic thesis of the op-ed, which has been the incessant cry from the conservative Christian community, is that a fairness ordinance reversely disc...