🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <16390002@b-mrda.ca.boeing.com> miller@b-mrda.ca.boeing.com (Mark Miller) writes:
>I'd like net.reaction to the following hypothetical situation:
>
>A church has an opening for a youth group leader. One applicant
>says that he is a homosexual. The church's board of elders (or
>other governing body) refuses to employ the applicant on the basis
>of his homosexuality, citing Romans chapter 1 and saying that the 
>applicant's beliefs contradict the church's values.
>
>In your opinion, has the church acted properly? Should the church be
>forced to hire and/or compensate the individual?
>
The church should not be forced to hire this person.  I believe
that the current gay rights measure in Portland contains an
exemption for churches; I'll be really embarrassed if I'm wrong ...

This is true separation of church and state.  Churches should be
allowed _as much as possible_ (human sacrifice, for instance,
would be too much) to practice their own beliefs within their
own church members.  In exchange, churches are prevented
from inserting into constitutions or legislation a mandate which
forces citizens with other beliefs to follow theirs.  This last
is where bogus legislation has recently arisen.  The conservative
churches believe (like all other religions) that theirs is the
only true faith, and so they must force everyone else to follow
it.

As appalled as I am that measure 9 was even on the ballot in
Oregon, I don't think "force feeding" gays into the midst of the
OCA is the smartest way to effect change.  OCA members are too
irrationally terrified to profit from it.  Besides, it's the
constitutional thing to do to exempt churches, and it's
constitutions that need to be preserved, to protect us all.

Another scenario:  A company hires a new executive, who is a
member of a church that believes gays are sub-human.  Over the next
few weeks she realizes through casual office conversation that
two of her subordinates are quietly and honestly gay.  She
summarily fires them, choosing her religion over her legal
responsibility to the company.  The company should in turn fire
her, for breaking the law and opening the company to lawsuit.
The company may not know her beliefs in advance, because they
are prevented from asking and possibly discriminating on the
basis of religion.

Another twist to gay rights laws that this scenario points out
is that members of certain churches will as a class be
incompetent to hold many high-paying executive and public
positions, unless they totally supress important parts of
their religious beliefs in their professional lives.  Measure 9
was also partly a jobs bill for members of the OCA.

-- 
Norman Goetz		Network Technician		Reed College
audio: (503) 771-1112 X 646	Internet: goetz@reed.edu
This has been a test life.  This was only a test.  If this had been an actual
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