Equal Protection...Henry VIII Style

"...no state shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws..."

Something is amiss.

Recently, the President of Chick-Fil-A, Dan Cathy stated he supports marriage between a man and a woman.  The firestorm since has hardly been surprising, but it has represented an interesting turn of events in terms of how those who oppose Chick-Fil-A's stance argue the Constitution.

While Dan Cathy expressed his personal opinion, the response from Mayors, who do not represent private entities, but rather public ones, have stated they will turn away a business that employs people who then pay taxes even in an economy where growth is staggering along at an anemic rate.  That's right both Boston and then Chicago decided that because of  private company's CEO's personal stance, they would preclude them from future economic opportunities.  It is not clear to me how this isn't a violation of their same equal protection they claim homosexuals suffer because a private individual believes that homosexuality is outside the bounds of his religious convictions.

The conversation is interesting because it is clear that for those with the opposite view it is not enough for them to get the 'right' to marry or the right to do this, that, or the other, but rather they are happy to express their viewpoint that I may not only not express my opinion, but I can't have it either.

Much like England under Henry VIII and his Succession Act, America is eliminating the ability to disagree and like Henry's England it has nothing to do with higher calling, but is rather about personal selfishness and political expediency.  The Succession Act, which placed the King of England as the head of the Church in England, was considered heretical to those who held onto their Roman Catholic beliefs.  At the time, Thomas More left government so that he would not have to swear allegiance to an idea that was contrary to his personal beliefs, but even this was not good enough for the king and the self doubt that clearly clouded his mind to kill his former trusted advisor and friend.

This story is not dissimilar to the ideas espoused now where Catholics are being forced through the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, to perform abortions, provide and pay for contraception, and many other manner of procedure contrary to both Catholic teaching and personal conviction.  Perhaps people would consider this as they move forward in their discussions on Chick-Fil-A, Obamacare, and such.  For me, I will stand with the man whose name I took when I was confirmed into the church.

I die the king's faithful servant, but God's first. - Thomas More