Dawn Wyatt//Contributing Writer
Religious leaders and elected officials from across Tennessee converged in downtown Nashville Thursday for “Stand in the Gap for Truth,” a rally on religious freedoms sponsored by the Tennessee Pastor’s Network. Among many of the day’s speakers, the common theme was Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Religious liberty advocate, Dr. Richard Land commented on the growing controversy.
“Ever since the Supreme Court decision, the number one issue for these leaders is domestic religious freedom,” said Land, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary.
“The Progressives have this odd idea that religious freedom is a zero-sum game. That for LGBT people to have their rights, religious people have to lose rights, and that’s not true,” Land said. Adding that there has to be accommodations for same- sex couples to get their licenses without having to force people to violate their convictions.
“People who are elected officials cannot take it upon themselves to disobey the law, otherwise you have anarchy,” Land said. “They have to uphold the law. But we ought to be able to accommodate elected officials who are not saying the law can’t be enforced, they just don’t want to be the ones that do it.”
“We understand that the Progressives are trying to weaponize our own government against us, to penalize us for standing up for our own convictions and conscience, and the only way to stop them is to defend ourselves,” Land said.
Along with Land, other speakers included Laurie Cardoza-Moore, Rafael Cruz, father of GOP candidate Ted Cruz and Joe Davis, husband of Kim Davis.
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Ever since the SCOTUS trial of 2015 regarding marriage equality, a variety of comments and opinions have surfaced. Religious freedom has been called into question and magnified by the conflict in Kentucky with Kim Davis. However, the main issue today is adapting to this new development in social aspects and finding a way to coexist. Society has adjusted to several changes made by SCOTUS trials, and our government has yet to collapse. Only certain groups of natives are restless about the change in U.S. law, many individuals struggle to accept the idea of marriage equality, but America is a democracy. Citizens do not agree on everything due to religious, political, and moral values, but citizens are not going to overthrow the government based on one trial that has little effect on the majority of citizens. Those who find their jobs and religious values in conflict will be addressed in due course, but during this adjustment period, there will continue to be a focus on the clashes between those in favor and those opposing the SCOTUS ruling. America is the land of opportunity, and without “progressives”, attempting to allow those without opportunities to have their freedoms, to exist in society with the same common rights as everyone else, nothing would ever change.