Why Pastor Mallinak is wrong on the ordinances
On Feb. 15 I wrote a story in QSaltLake regarding Ogden’s non-discrimination ordinances and a possible move to insert religious exemption language into the proposal. After that article was published on the Internet, Pastor Dave Mallinak of the Berean Baptist Church in Ogden responded to my e-mail. Then QSaltLake’s editorial team invited Pastor Mallinak to write a guest column explaining his views, which he graciously agreed to do, and it’s published in this issue.
I asked the editor and publisher to allow me to dedicate my column to a rebuttal of the pastor’s argument. If you haven’t read it yet, you should probably do that first. Also, I think it is important to note that Pastor Mallinak’s original column was edited for size, so if I respond to something you don’t see in the print edition, you might want to go to the online edition, which doesn’t suffer from size constraints.
I think the most important thing to note about Pastor Mallinak’s position is that he falls upon the same tired nonsense to which the rest of Utah’s religious bigot brigade clings. Yes, I understand that your god doesn’t approve of homosexual behavior. We’ve all heard that line, we all understand it, and quite frankly, most of us don’t care. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution clearly spells out that the laws of our society will not and cannot be determined by any particular religion.
The next piece of the argument is the one I find most distressing: “I oppose a nondiscrimination ordinance because it only establishes another kind of discrimination – one against Christians like me who object to homosexuality.” Is this really the case? I don’t think so. All this ordinance does is tell bigots…errr… “Christians like him” that they don’t have the right to impose their beliefs onto anyone else, especially through employment or housing decisions.
The Pastor goes on to argue that these ordinances will deny him the right to object to homosexuality in the workplace, and would prevent good Christians from doing their god-given duty and “witnessing” to the evil gays about the sin of their existence. In his own words, “I want the Christian’s right to warn homosexuals in the workplace preserved.”
What gives anyone the right to “witness” or “warn” anyone about their lifestyle? He goes so far as to defend the good Christian’s right to harass an unbeliever, “More than a few homosexuals would consider a call to repentance ‘unwelcome.’”
On this, he’s probably right. More than a few heterosexuals would also consider such a call unwelcome. I know that I would take offense to some religious zealot calling upon me to change my ways in order to conform to his or her notion of morality. But I’m a straight man, and hence, I’m protected from that in the workplace. Apparently Pastor Mallinak believes that not everyone is entitled to that same protection, or that being gay is, in some way, the most heinous of sins and requires special attention.
That fact is made obvious by his numerous biblical quotes. He begins by invoking Leviticus, which never ceases to amaze and amuse me. This particular piece of the bible references all manner of sin, such as the eating of shellfish and the use of blended fibers in clothing. It goes on to explain how to eradicate sin through burnt offerings. How often does Pastor Mallinak’s church perform ritual burnings of cattle, sheep, or fruit in order to honor their god? Why is it that certain parts of this passage can be ignored, but that one line about lying with mankind as with womankind is so important?
He goes on to explain that god will judge the homosexuals on the last day, quoting Corinthians. Of course, he neglects to pay any attention to the rest of the people being judged by god: fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners… Does this mean that we should then practice housing and employment discrimination against anyone that drinks, has engaged in premarital or extramarital sex, has coveted or stolen?
The Pastor’s entire argument is that he, as a “good Christian,” should have the right to point out the sin of homosexuality and to call upon the sinner to repent. Well, to one extent he is correct. He does have that right, as do we all. We all have the right to believe as we will, and to express that belief. What we don’t have is the right to push that belief onto those that don’t want it. I don’t have the right to go into my workplace and attempt to convince my colleagues that their beliefs are wrong. Why should anyone?
We don’t have the right to deny basic social liberties to a class of people on that basis. Ogden’s housing and employment protections merely serve to clarify the societal requirement that all of us are, in fact, equal under the law.
Unfortunately, I am constrained by space requirements as well, and so cannot get into the logical fallacies prevalent in the rest of the argument. I would welcome the opportunity to continue this discourse with Pastor Mallinak in another format, such as a public debate on this issue.