As I write this, it’s Sticky-Wicket Night in my region of the country. The Fayetteville City Council has become the tool of a hostile attack orchestrated by the activist Human Rights Campaign which is working to make Fayetteville the first community in Arkansas to adopt a so-called Civil Rights Ordinance. (While I don’t live within the city limits, I always pay attention to their issues.) Tonight’s meeting is the third reading of the issue before a vote will be taken.
If you want to read the actual proposed ordinance, it is available here. Tonight’s meeting was set for a room with a seating capacity of about 300 people. Once the seats were all occupied, a line formed down the stairs and outside the City Hall. The photo at left shows people standing in line and on down the sidewalk to the corner. (The photo was included on an Instagram page from the Twitter feed of @craigmillerar.)
I need to start by saying emphatically: discrimination in any form is detestable. As a Christian, I am tasked by my Creator to treat all people with respect and to express the love of Christ to all. I Thessalonians 3:12 tells me: … may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you.
The first sentence of the proposed ordinance reads this way:
The purpose of this chapter is to protect and safeguard the right and opportunity of all persons to be free from discrimination based on real or perceived race, ethnicity, national origin, age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, familial status, marital status, socioeconomic background, religion, sexual orientation, disability and veteran status. Continue reading “Trust the People”