Family Research Council President Tony Perkins has come out and publicly said that Christians who support gay rights don’t have the same religious rights as conservative Christians because “true religious freedom” only applies to “orthodox religious viewpoints.”
While I would agree that the historical majority of traditional, i.e Orthodox, Christianity hasn’t endorsed homosexuality as normative, one is free to debate if it’s right or wrong, but Judaism, Islam and Christianity have historically said marriage is between a man and a woman.
The stoning of gays could be argued by a fundamentalist on historicity alone. I don’t think this is really new information to anyone. I don’t agree with Perkin’s premise, and I think he’s arguing a conclusion that is untenable. But I also think claiming “religious freedom or rights” could extend to many so-called faith practices that most people would abhor, like genital mutilation, circumcision, marrying children, etc.
