Dear Christian friends,

As an advocacy organization for the sake of the protection of the public voice of our Church, we’ve been speaking the “Equality Act” legislation and its effects on the Church since before the election (see our Liberty Alerts at LCRLfreedom.org). Here also are a few documents that will summarize the nefarious effects of a piece of legislation (H.R. 5) that is misnamed, “The Equality Act.” It should help you be informed so that you can make your voice known to those who are elected to represent you.

(see the Heritage Foundation - Click here…) 

(see also - concernedwomen.org - Click here...)

The legislation is better called the “anti-biblical, traditional morality” Act. It will make every church, school, pre-school, University subject to the new teaching on marriage (which means you cannot define marriage solely as between a man, woman for life), and subject to the new definition of sex (which used to mean biological sex rooted in science and morality), now it means sexual orientation of which there are 10’s even 100’s of possibilities with no meaningful relationship to one’s created sex. The law will make it a federal civil rights violation to teach or to organize or to hire/fire otherwise. It will remove the 1st amendment protections of the Church and it will overturn RFRA (the religious freedom restoration act….which undergirded our 1st amendment freedoms. And it will make litigation a reality for Churches, schools, pre-schools, adoption agencies, Christian businesses, Universities almost immediately.

We’ve been warning the Church about this for over a year. We talked about “voting platforms not people” this past election. And, we talked about Christians at least voting to protect the Church this past election. Many did not. I have worked with the ADF (Alliance Defending Freedom) people who defend the Church in various litigations like those which will come with the “Equality Act.” I asked their lead litigator in a meeting that the LCRL had with ADF with all of our District Presidents before the election…..I asked him, about the implication of our vote, and if the religious liberty platform loses, what will be the result. He said, vote NOW to protect your liberty, or after the election, each congregation will probably need to have a lawyer on retainer. This past election was a “religious liberty election” and that protection sadly lost. Most probably didn’t know that they were voting to make the Church’s teachings illegal, but that will be the result unless the democratic platform changes between now and the final vote in the Senate. (Pro-life protections are also being completely undermined by this and other legislation as we speak…as well as the Presidents efforts via executive order)

A fellow pastor stated the concerns this way:

  • The Equality Act designates schools, churches, and healthcare organizations as “public accommodations” such that they would be forced to accept the government’s beliefs and mandates about sexual orientation and gender identity.

  • The Equality Act will legislate that the biology/anatomy of student athletes can not restrict which team they participate in or which dressing room they use (likewise with homeless shelters and prisons)

  • The Equality Act will encourage or mandate schools to instruct very young children that they can choose to be a boy or a girl (or neither or both) and that their anatomical sexual organs are irrelevant to their sexual identity.

  • The Equality Act will use the force of law across our nation to strip Christian and other religious ministries of their right to only hire people of shared faith and values.

  • The Equality Act will deprive health workers of their rights of conscience, forcing doctors and medical professionals to engage in gender transition treatments and surgery.

  • The Equality Act will be a tool used by the government to deny or threaten accreditation to religious colleges and universities if they do not comply with these new gender mores.

 

Here are more pertinent resources for the so-called Equality Act. These should give each person the necessary information to inform them as they make their voice known to their leaders in the Congress and the Senate.

Pray about this, get informed, make your voice known to your elected officials individually and as a Church. For Christians and the Christian Church, politically this is a religious liberty issue. We are not the people “forcing” our morality on anyone. And yet, we are being told that we cannot have a biblical, moral view of these things that contradicts the spirit of the age. The Equality Act will make our view in the public arena punishable by law. For more information on this see our Liberty Alerts on our website lcrlfreedom.org or go to our LCRL Facebook page for various posts on the matter….but the docs I give you now, should be helpful. While our voice compared to others is small, we are seeking to be as clear, as concise, and as helpful as we can be.

God’s peace in the storm,

  

Dr. Gregory P. Seltz, PhD

Executive Director, LCRL
Speaker Emeritus, The Lutheran Hour

   Email Dr. Seltz here