Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Freedom of Religion or Big Government Telling locals what to do?


Guest Blogger
Michelle Stafford
Secretary, Board of Directors

     It would seem that once again religious people in the state government are attempting to pass state laws that not only negate nondiscrimination laws passed by local cities and towns, but that also are in direct conflict with their own professed beliefs.  The heart and soul of our type of government is rule by the people.  People have spoken in cities and towns across Texas that they are opposed to discrimination against anyone.  Now we have elected state officials who desire to implement big government ideology to make local laws illegal.  It seems not to matter to them that the local people want to end all discrimination.  They are determined to promote the restriction of rights to a particular group of people and they are doing it in the name of religion with no regard to what their own Scriptures say.  I John 4:20-21 states, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar.  For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.  And he has given us this command: ‘Whoever loves God must also love his brother.’”
     The fact that these proposed new laws come immediately after the passage of Plano’s new non-discrimination law further proves their neglect of understanding and their desire to deny rights, for the new Plano law basically prohibits housing discrimination against gays and lesbians, but contains statutes that provide even more discrimination against the transgender community by making it legal to discriminate against them based solely upon the genitals with which they were born, which completely disregards gender identity and gender expression. 
     The Transgender Education Network of Texas calls on individuals to express themselves to their elected representatives as being against big government and for the right of local rule.  We also call on these religious people to follow the teachings established by the One they recognize as God incarnate who said in John 13:35, “By this will men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”