Ross Douthat’s Canny (and Utterly Dishonest) Defense of Homophobia
By Mark Joseph Stern
A married lesbian couple brings their children to a restaurant. The host refuses to seat them because, as he explains, interaction with gay people violates his religious beliefs. The mothers speak to the manager, who reminds the host of the restaurants non-discrimination policy and demands that he seat the family. Who is the victim? The mothers, who must explain to their children why their parents mere existence is, for some, a despicable sin? The children, who were forced to watch their parents shamed and humiliated in public?
None of the above, according to
New York Times op-ed columnist Ross Douthat: By
his moral calculus, the host would be the true victim, the family the victors, and the hypotheticalwhich is
far from fancifuldemonstrates not the continuing threat of discrimination in America, but, rather, the marginalization of devout Christians at the hands of bellicose pro-gay forces.
In his most recent column, Douthat strives to reframe the current debate about
anti-gay discrimination (and even
segregation) into one about sincere believers being brutally trampled by gay rights activists eager to bury religious freedom. Its a failed effort, but a useful failure nonetheless. Arizonas anti-gay bill may be
dead, but
several more are
alive and kicking, and Douthat neatly anticipates the many straw men, euphemisms, and verbal chicanery anti-gay forces will deploy to make their case.
In fact, Douthats column is such an effective piece of homophobic apologia that I expect many red state politicians to borrow from its playbook in the coming months and years. To make their job easier, Ive laid out the most effective means of disguising raw hatred as religious liberty and rounding discrimination down to dissent. If youre thinking about introducing an anti-gay discrimination bill to your own states legislature, you should pay close attention.
more
http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/03/03/ross_douthat_religious_liberty_homophobia_is_more_acceptable_than_racism.html?