Faith doesn’t discriminate

Contrary to what some expect, almost all religious denominations oppose discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Religious bodies including the National Federation of Roman Catholic Priests, the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church, and both Reform and Conservative Judaism, United Methodist Church, the Lutheran Church, the Presbyterian Church and many others are on record as supporting the inclusion of sexual orientation in nondiscrimination laws.

The reason is simple: there is nothing moral about discrimination. There is nothing moral about firing gay people from their jobs, or refusing to rent them an apartment, or barring them from eating in a restaurant, or denying them access to a school.

In Maine, we have an opportunity to right a moral wrong – and prevent future wrongs – by supporting Gov. Baldacci’s non-discrimination bill, LD 1196, now under consideration by the Legislature. We support that bill, and urge other people of faith to do the same.

Some people worry that religious institutions would be “forced” to hire gays or lesbians as a result of a bill like this.

That worry is a red herring. This bill applies the same religious exemptions that already exist under the Maine Human Rights Act.

While many faith communities are now undertaking debates about blessing same-sex relationships, that’s not what this bill is about. This bill concerns matters in our secular civil society: ensuring that people may not be arbitrarily denied access to employment, housing, public accommodations, education, and credit.

Nondiscrimination is a duty from which none of us should shirk.

We should keep in mind what is at stake here. Discrimination is an affront to human dignity. It stigmatizes gay and lesbian members of our community and treats them as social pariahs, in plain contravention of core religious principles.

At their best, religious traditions celebrate the worth of all persons and also call the community to do justice. In this case, doing justice means guaranteeing basic civil rights for gay people who, after all, are also members, are they not, of the human community? In religious perspective, gay men and lesbians are not strangers in our midst, but our sisters and brothers.

We should not fool ourselves into thinking that our current public policy is neutral.

It is not. This conspicuous hole in our nondiscrimination laws ignores victims of sexual orientation-based discrimination, who are spiritually, emotionally, and materially degraded as are other victims of discrimination.

Their ensuing humiliation, frustration, and despair should seriously disturb us, as people of faith, no matter which if any faith we belong to.

Because discrimination is a moral wrong, we must seize every opportunity to eradicate its existence. Some would even say that’s our religious duty.

Marvin M. Ellison teaches Christian ethics at Bangor Theological Seminary.