On Nov. 6-7, Des Moines will host a national religious liberty conference (Freedom 2015) and become the epicenter of the movement towards state-by-state Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRAs), a conversation around the persecution of Christians and the need to restore the United States to a Christian nation. Thousands from around the country will come together at Freedom 2015 to celebrate bakers, florists and venue proprietors who refuse service to same-sex couples. They will strategize towards a perversion of America's first freedom -- religious liberty -- recasting and redefining the First Amendment as a tool of bias and discrimination.
Their website sets the tone by asking these questions:
"Will Americans stand for religious freedoms, or will we lose them?
Will sexual license trump religious liberties?"
It then asks:
"Are you ready. . . to be arrested?"
"Are you ready. . . to lose your children to the state?"
"Is your pastor ready to go to jail for refusing to officiate a same sex marriage?"
"Will your church be shut down?"
"Will Christians be forced to break the law?"
All presidential hopefuls were invited to the event to help answer those questions and promote RFRAs. A few -- Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee and Bobby Jindal -- are confirmed to join pastors and theologians, radical right talk show hosts and "Targeted Men & Women of Faith."
It is the event's organizer who worries me the most. Kevin Swanson, the host of "Generation Radio," has called for the death penalty for gays. According to "Right Wing Watch" Kevin Swanson "has openly and repeatedly defended laws that impose the capital punishment on gay people.
Joel McDurmon, president of American Vision, will also speak at the event. In a recent statement he clarified his position on the LGBT community where he says that he does not believe "that homosexuality in general should receive the death penalty; but rather that the Bible teaches that the 'act' of sodomy should receive such."
Thousands are coming together because they are losing the culture war, because same-sex couples have the right to marry across this nation, because the world is changing. Clearly the next battle will be our First Amendment and America's first freedom, and LGBT equality is the initial target.
Religious liberty should not and cannot be used as a weapon of discrimination. We need to be very clear that we will not allow the radical religious right to undermine the rights and liberties of LGBT Americans or anyone else under the guise of religious liberty.