Missouri legislators have been engaged in a battle of words and parliamentary procedure this week over issues at the intersection of same-sex marriage and religious liberty. I won’t recap the events, but here’s the latest piece and the current situation.
My good friend Don Hinkle serves as the editor of The Pathway, the influential Missouri Baptist newspaper serving Christians throughout the state and beyond.
Hinkle spent countless hours in the hallways and visitor’s galley at the State Capitol this week, keeping the wider world of Christians informed about what was going on. As such, I asked him to give us his thoughts about this week, from the perspective of a Christian minister engaged in political and public policy issues.
With thanks to Hinkle, here is what he wrote and sent along to us:
1. Any effort must be bathed in prayer. When I convened our meetings back in August with faith leaders from across the state, along with lawmakers, State Capitol staffers and First Amendment scholars and other legal experts, our meetings always began with Scripture and prayers.
2. Americans are genuinely concerned that they are losing their religious freedom. Display leadership and they will rally. When the homosexual lobby began bombarding the senators with phone messages opposing our amendment, we launched a counter offensive and trumped the number of messages they were leaving and then bombarded lawmakers with emails. Some mentioned they had never seen anything like it. Christians responded.
3. Faith. From the first day I told our group that this was not just about securing our religious freedom, but also to demonstrate our faith in God, trusting Him for the results and praising Him no matter the outcome. We went forth in His name.
4. As I told the New York Times, Southern Baptists do not hate LGBT people. We are horrified by atrocities committed worldwide against LGBT individuals—beheading and throwing victims off roof tops. Such atrocities happen in nations that do business with American companies who claim to support LGBT rights but turn their backs to the atrocities committed by their customer. We want to befriend LGBT people and show them the love of Christ.
5. Freedom is never free. President Reagan warned us against the various threats to our freedom, some of foreign origin, others from within. I am reminded of Joshua 1:9: “Be strong and courageous … for the Lord thy God is with you always.”
6. Talented, committed people are absolutely necessary. We had some of our nation’s top constitutional scholars crafting our amendment. Carl Esbeck, law professor emeritus at the University of Missouri Law School was the chief architect, but it was also vetted by the likes of Mike McConnell of Stanford University Law School and Douglas Laycock of the University of Virginia Law School, Mike and Jonathon Whitehead and Eddie Greim, three outstanding Kansas City attorneys and Joshua Hawley, constitutional law professor at the University of Missouri Law Schoool and hero of the Hobby Lobby case. Hawley is also running for Missouri Attorney General.
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