Where is the Tolerance and Respect for Diversity? by Ken Weliever, The Preacherman

https://thepreachersword.com/2013/09/04/where-is-the-tolerance-and-respect-for-diversity/#more-4526

Where is the Tolerance and Respect for Diversity?

(This post received the 5th most hits from our readers in 2013)

Aaron and Melissa Klien have been the subject of protests.  Boycotts. And Public outrage.   In fact Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries has launched an official investigation.
“Everybody is entitled to their own beliefs, Commissioner Brad Avakian told The Oregonian but that doesn’t mean that folks have the right to discriminate.” Presumably in referring to the Klien’s, Avakian also said,  “The goal is to rehabilitate.”

So who are Aaron and Melissa Klien?  And what intolerable offense did they commit?

The Kliens own a bakery, Sweet Cakes by Melissa, in Greshem, Oregon. Last January a lesbian couple wanted them to bake a wedding cake.  They Kliens refused.  They call their bakery a “Christian business.”  And felt it was incompatible with their faith to take part in homosexual wedding events.

Aaron Klien says he has nothing against homosexuals.  But adds, “I believe marriage is between a man and a woman.  I don’t want to help somebody celebrate a commitment to a lifetime of sin.”

As a result militant homosexual groups launched protests and boycotts. The Kleins said they have received death threats. Some even hoping his children would die.

LGBT protestors then focused other wedding vendors in the community. They threatened to boycott  florists, wedding planners or other vendors that did business with Sweet Cakes By Melissa.

That tipped the scales,” Aaron Klein said. “The LGBT activists inundated them with phone calls and threatened them. They would tell our vendors, ‘If you don’t stop doing business with Sweet Cakes By Melissa, we will shut you down.’”

According to their facebook page the Kleins are now shutting down their store and moving the business they have left into their home.  “Better is a poor man who walks in integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways” reads one of their post from Proverbs 28:6.

Consider these five points.

(1) Is it just my religious bias, or does it seem that the intolerance is on the part of the pro-homosexual crowd that demands everyone cater to them?

The word “tolerance” has changed it’s meaning. It used to mean that we show respect to people with whom we disagree.  That we treat them with dignity. Now “tolerance” means that we must accept every idea, belief and practice as equally valid, true and right.  In fact, we must applaud and celebrate every lifestyle.  No matter how bizarre!

The persecution of the Kliens and their family business exposes the true colors of the far left.  They preach tolerance and diversity. Yet, have no tolerance for the faith of sincere Christians who respectfully disagree with their life style.  So much for diversity!

(2) Christians and churches need to realize we are under attack.  In the past several years the forces evil have been emboldened.  The devil has gotten a foothold in the media, entertainment industry and educational system in this country.  We are in fight “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:11).

(3) We must be willing to say as the apostle Peter, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).  Christians in business and even churches may increasingly be called upon to disobey ungodly laws in favor of God’s divine edicts.

(4) We can learn a great lesson from the pro-homosexual forces in our country.  In my life time they have taken a practice that everyone in society knew was abnormal and wrong, and made it acceptable.  Lawful.  And even celebrated.  I wonder what would happen, if we all worked with the same desire, diligence, and dedication to share our faith and preach the gospel of Christ? 

(5) In spite of what the enemies of Truth do, Christians are called upon to live on a higher plane.  Let us not give in to ungodly attitudes or unrighteous actions.  We must practice the old adage that says, “Love the sinner. But hate the sin.”

In an age of relativism and individualism, tolerance is the mantra of our secular society.  Yet, where is the tolerance for Christians? And their Faith?

There will be more folks like the Kliens who suffer intolerance from the “politically correct” crowd.  In the meantime Christians must stay strong. And stand for Truth.

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman