Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz recently voiced his opinion about how religious freedom should be interpreted by posting a video featuring five “victims” of religious “oppression” on his YouTube channel.
Each of the “victims,” portrayed as decorated soldiers fallen in the battle to uphold the good word of God, were sued and, in some cases, fired after discriminating against the gay community.
In the video, various unfair claims such as, “The U.S. government is forcing people of faith to violate their beliefs on marriage and sexuality,” and, “Americans are being told to change their religious beliefs or lose their livelihood,” flash on the screen between somber shots of the discriminators.
Each one speaks about their experiences with feeling as though their religious liberties were taken.
There’s Kelvin Cochran, a former fire chief; Air Force veteran Sgt. Phillip Monk; Blaine Adamson, managing owner of the printing business “Hands on Originals”; Melissa and Aaron Klein, owners of “Sweet Cakes Bakery”; and Barronelle Stutzman, owner of “Arlene’s Flowers.”
The Kleins and Stutzman refused service to gay couples who wanted to pay them to do their jobs, fearing the wrath of God if they were to contribute in any way to a non-traditional marriage.
The video states Adamson “was told his printing business must promote messages that conflict with his faith.”
As for Sgt. Monk and Cochran, they declared they were fired for expressing their views — extremely vague.
So I looked into it.
It seems Sgt. Monk was told by his supervisor he must follow protocol and punish a staffer who was abusing their status to promote their opposition to homosexuality on religious grounds to trainees, which is against Air Force policy, as officers are not allowed to use their station to express religious views.
Sgt. Monk refused to punish the staff member and was reassigned, though he claims in the video that he was fired.
Kelvin Cochran was suspended from his job as an Atlanta Fire Rescue Department chief after he disseminated his book in which he disparages homosexuality and lesbianism.
He claims both are “sexual perversion.”
He describes homosexuality as an “uncleanness” at the same level as “bestiality” and “pederasty.”
As expected, employees at the fire department complained, and Cochran argued he was suspended because of his religion.
Cruz’s whole video is supposed to be about upholding religious liberty, but he neglects the liberties non-Christians.
It’s also clear from these stories it was not the Christians who were oppressed on the basis of their views, but it was the gay couples and individuals who were oppressed on the basis of their identities.
It’s also important to note the “victims” were actually punished for acting unconstitutionally by refusing service or for blatantly not following their occupational protocols in all of these situations.
Should Ted Cruz really want to focus on upholding liberty, perhaps he should defend the rights of more than just the majority.
meickhof@indiana.edu
