In 1 Kings 3:16-28, the Bible recounts the story of how Solomon the Wise ascertained the true mother of a child by offering to cut the baby in half to resolve the dispute between the two women who both claimed to be his mother. By dividing the baby up “equally” between the two women, Solomon would have ultimately killed the child. This, of course, leads to the discovery of the true mother, who loves the baby enough to give up them up and protect their life.
Like the child in this story, the “parentage” of our modern society is being fought over by several competing interest groups, whose desires are mutually exclusive. This is best illustrated by the tension between LGBT activists and Muslim rights activists, whose disputes made the national news in April after the Biden Administration announced that it would allow US diplomatic outposts to begin flying the rainbow pride flag on the same flagstaff as Old Glory.[1]
Shortly thereafter, the US Embassy for Vatican City proudly put a pride flag on display in an act that was widely viewed as a decidedly undiplomatic attempt to provoke the Catholic Church[2], whose official stance on LGBT rights, like same-sex unions[3], is at odds with the policies of the Biden Administration.
This put the Biden Administration in a bit of a Catch-22 conundrum since it has also sought to portray itself as a champion of religious tolerance and coexistence. For example, President Biden issued the following statement in recognition of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and later urged Americans not to give in to bigoted prejudices against Muslim society: “Today, Muslims are…playing a leading role in our ongoing struggle for racial equity and social justice.”[4]
This statement is ironic given its simultaneous endorsement of LGBT causes since Muslims comprise a far more intolerant religious sect toward LGBT rights than the Catholic Church. For instance, in Brazil, a Catholic majority country, 60% of Brazilians believe that society should accept homosexuality. In contrast, in Indonesia, the country with the highest Muslim population, a mere 3% think society should accept homosexuality.[5]
The only conclusion to be drawn from the inconsistencies between these stances is simply that the Biden Administration is pushing mutually exclusive causes. The only consistent thread between LGBT rights and Muslim religious rights are that both are minority groups. This indicates that the Biden Administration’s stances are not supporting these causes based on their moral rightness but only because they are minority groups.
If the LGBT agenda was to be achieved, it would erase the “religious tolerance” being preached toward orthodox Muslims, who maintain that LGBT identities are not tolerated. In contrast, if the agenda of preserving Muslim religious beliefs (in their purest cultural form) was achieved, then LGBT individuals would, at a minimum, need to remain closeted.
Attempting to “equitably” cater to both LGBT activists and religious tolerance will result in the same kind of hollow victory that both women would have had if King Solomon had actually cut the baby in two. Both sides cannot win. These positions are nothing short of the hypocrisy illustrated by Romans 2:21-22: “You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?”
Despite any assurances the current administration may give, religious freedom is in jeopardy of being sacrificed on the altar of political correctness. And this will not only impact minority religious sects. The incoherence of current administration policies may be a harbinger of significant trouble for all people of faith.
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[1] Robbie Gramer, “Blinken Will Allow U.S. Embassies to Fly Pride Flag,”Foreign Policy (April 22, 2021), https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/04/22/pride-flag-lgbtq-rights-state-department-biden-reverse-trump-embassies/ [2] Mary Margaret Olohan, “Conservatives, Catholics Accuse US Embassy Of Deliberately Provoking Catholics With LGBTQ Pride Flag,” The Daily Caller (June 1, 2021), https://dailycaller.com/2021/06/01/catholics-lgbtq-pride-flag-embassy/ [3]“Responsum of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to a dubium regarding the blessing of the unions of persons of the same sex,”Vatican (March 15, 2021), https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2021/03/15/0157/00330.html#ing [4]“U.S. President Joe Biden greets Muslims on Ramzan,”The Hindu (April 13, 2021), https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/us-president-joe-biden-greets-muslims-on-ramzan/article34308569.ece [5]“The Global Divide on Homosexuality,” Pew Research (June 4, 2013), https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2013/06/04/the-global-divide-on-homosexuality/
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