This Court Just Ruled Religious Freedom Law Must Go into Effect Before Opponents Can Sue — And You Know They Will

The country has trended toward vilifying people who reject homosexuality as normal and believe homosexual “marriage” profanes the God-ordained union of one man and one woman.

That we need new laws to protect Christians and others who openly oppose a certain lifestyle from government retaliation is a sad fact of modern society and the effect of a permissive culture.

Legislators in Mississippi created a new law to protect Christians, but a court issued a temporary injunction against it. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit this week lifted that injunction. The law will go into effect. From the Daily Signal:

In the decision, the circuit court overruled a previous judgment from a district court judge who had declared the Mississippi law unconstitutional for violating the Establishment Clause and the Equal Protection Clause.

But as the circuit court pointed out, the challengers to Mississippi’s law lack standing because they “have not clearly shown injury-in-fact.” In other words, they did not show how the Mississippi law protecting liberty for people who hold to the pre-Obergefell v. Hodges definition of marriage harmed them.

The court explained that the “failure” of the “plaintiffs to assert anything more than a general stigmatic injury dooms their claim.”

As the Daily Signal noted, the case wasn’t decided on the merits. The plaintiffs claiming the law discriminates against homosexuals haven’t been harmed by it. The law must go into effect first, them those “harmed” can sue.

We can guess one scenario that will give a plaintiff standing: a man will ask a Christian baker to make a cake for his “wedding” to another man. When the Christian declines, and if he reveals his religious objections, the rejected customer will bring suit — even though he can patronize a bakery that has no such objections.

The Mississippi law bars the government from forcing religious organizations to use their facilities for activities they believe are against the tenets of their faith. The law also bars the government from forcing religious business owners to bake “wedding” cakes and other services. More from the Daily Signal:

State employees cannot be fired for expressing their beliefs about marriage outside the office, and individual state clerks can opt out of issuing marriage licenses so long as no valid marriage license is delayed or impeded.

Counselors and surgeons cannot be required to participate in gender identity transitioning or sex-reassignment surgeries against their faith and convictions, while guaranteeing that no one is denied emergency care or visitation rights.

Christians were right to worry that the U.S. Supreme Court decision redefining marriage would threaten their religious freedom. That’s the homosexual lobby’s point. The goal is to shut down dissent and eventually force Christians to celebrate and/or promote a practice that God calls a sin.

Photo credit: American Life League (Creative Commons) – Some rights reserved