If you like the President Obama’s position on religious liberty, then Governor John Kasich (Ohio) is the candidate for you. At [Wednesday’s] University of Virginia event, Kasich’s remarks on the clash between sexual liberalism and personal freedom were so extreme that they could’ve been mistaken for the current administration’s. In one of the more stunning moments of the Buckeye’s campaign, Kasich took direct aim at people like Aaron and Melissa Klein, who were ordered to surrender their First Amendment rights as a “price of doing business.” (Watch their moving story here.)

The young Christian parents of five have suffered through the shuttering of their bakery, a $135,000 fine, and years of costly court battles, all because a handful of Oregon tyrants feel as Kasich does: that the government should be able to punish Americans who believe differently about marriage than the radical Left. In his talk Wednesday, Governor Kasich pulled back the curtain on what his administration would do to stem the tide of this religious hostility: Nothing. It’s time for Christians to get over their convictions, he argued. “I think frankly,” he told the audience in Charlottesville, “our churches should not be forced to do anything that’s not consistent with them. But if you’re a cupcake maker and somebody wants a cupcake, make them a cupcake. Let’s not have a big lawsuit or argument over all this stuff. Move on. The next thing, you know, they might be saying if you’re divorced you shouldn’t get a cupcake.”

Move on? From what? The Bill of Rights? Our deeply-held beliefs? We already knew a Kasich administration wouldn’t defend marriage (“the Court has ruled,” he insisted), but who could believe that it would continue the Obama’s war on religious freedom? Amazingly, what the governor advocates is licensing the same discrimination against Christians that this coercion is supposed to spare others from. In the meantime, no one is suggesting that any person — homosexual, divorcee, or adulterer — be denied service at a sandwich or cupcake shop, hotel room, or anything else. That’s a convenient — and patently false — line of the Left. If the governor had familiarized himself with the stories of these shop owners before attacking them, he would know that people like Barronelle Stuzman actually offered to sell unarranged flowers and other goods to the same-sex couples in question. What they object to is being forced to use their God-given creative skills and talents in an event that violates everything their faith stands for.

“Marriage is not like a hamburger or a taxi ride,” the University of Illinois Law School’s Robin Fretwell Wilson points out, “it’s a deeply intimate service that is religiously infused. This is one of the places where the law can temper bad impulses. We don’t want to run religious people out of the public square, nor do we want to drive lesbians and gays out of society.” Unfortunately in this case, Kasich believes as President Obama does — that faith should be quarantined to the four walls of the church. That’s not only a fundamental misunderstanding about the Constitution, but a dangerous one.

Work is not, nor was it ever intended to be, a faith-free zone. A plain reading of the law makes it obvious that the Kleins, Stuzmans, Adamsons, Odgaards, Giffords, Hugenins, Millers, and dozens of others are under no obligation to use their talent to communicate a message at odds with their convictions. That kind of viewpoint coercion belongs in communist regimes, not the United States of America. Unfortunately, Kasich, like the rest of the P.C. police, views this issue through the lens of political correctness — not the Constitution, which protects the expression of personal views, even in the marketplace. (That’s why they call it the free market!)

But be advised: this thinking not only puts Kasich on the wrong side of the law — but the wrong side of voters too. Strong-arming Christians hasn’t exactly been a political winner in America. A whopping 85% of Americans believe what Governor Kasich apparently doesn’t: that a Christian business owner has the right to say no if her religious beliefs clash with a same-sex “marriage” client. If 2016 is, in fact, a religious liberty election, then John Kasich may want to rethink his strategy — and soon.

Originally published here.

Customers Dress Down Lands’ End

Thanks to many of you, Lands’ End is no longer a dead end for pro-lifers. The long-time clothing company mended its ways earlier this week after wading into abortion politics and feminist propaganda. For many, Lands’ End was a refreshing option to so many companies that refused to stay neutral in the culture wars. That changed this month with Lands’ End’s glowing tribute to Gloria Steinem as part of the store’s “Legends Series.” The profiles, which were meant to highlight “individuals who have made a difference in both their respective industries and the world at large” ignited a firestorm by kicking off the campaign with a feature on a radical Equal Rights Amendment proponent and known abortion supporter.

“This profile on Gloria Steinem — conducted by Lands’ End CEO Federica Marchionni, no less — is revolting,” Media Research Center’s Katie Yoder told The Stream. “A feminist who adores abortion and hates religion doesn’t deserve one inch in a catalog that also celebrates Easter and family.” Hours after media outlets started drawing attention to the company’s move, emails and phone calls streamed into Lands’ End headquarters. The criticism was so overwhelming that it prompted an almost immediate apology from CEO Federica Marchionn. “We understand that some of our customers were offended by the inclusion of an interview in a recent catalog with Gloria Steinem on her quest for women’s equality,” she explained. “We thought it was a good idea and we heard from our customers that, for different reasons, it wasn’t. For that, we sincerely apologize. Our goal was to feature individuals with different interests and backgrounds that have made a difference for our new Legends Series, not to take any political or religious stance.”

Shortly after, to the cheers of pro-lifers, the references to Steinem were scrubbed from the site and catalogue. No one was more pleased with the victory than 2nd Vote’s Dr. David Black. His organization, which ranks companies on their positions on marriage, life, guns, and other values issues, was one of the catalysts of Lands’ End’s change of heart. For Black and so many conservatives, it was another example of how important it is for consumers to hold corporate America accountable for their advocacy. [Wednesday], on “Washington Watch,” I talked to Dr. Black about the power conservatives hold just by voting with their dollars. As Christians, we have a responsibility to be good stewards of our money — not just in the company we keep, but the companies we keep.

With rankings on more than 400 popular companies, Dr. Black explains, “What we’re trying to do [at 2nd Vote] is defund the radical agenda by removing our dollars from the organizations supporting them.” (Listen to the entire interview here, starting at 27:37.) Obviously, companies have every right to express their views. But consumers have rights too — including the right to respond. At the end of the day, money talks — and believe me, these CEOs are listening.

Originally published here.

Mountain Jesus in Peak Condition

Faith can move mountains, but can it move mountain statues? Attorneys at the Becket Fund are happy to report that in Montana, the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) will never know. The atheist activists abandoned their lawsuit to take “Big Mountain Jesus” off the slopes after even the Ninth Circuit Court upheld the monument. For more than 60 years, the life-sized Christ statue from the Knights of Columbus had been greeting skiers on a run on public land.

FFRF argued that because the monument was on public land it meant taxpayers were subsidizing it. Not even the most liberal appeals court in America bought that argument and ruled instead that “there is nothing in the statue’s display or setting to suggest government endorsement; the twelve-foot tall statue is on a mountain, far from any government seat or building, near a commercial ski resort, and accessible only to individuals who pay to use the ski lift.” In fact, the judge ruled, there were far better reasons for keeping the display, including, “the statue’s cultural and historical significance for veterans, Montanans, and tourists; the statue’s inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places; and the government’s intent to preserve the site ‘as a historic part of the resort.’”

Now that the deadline to appeal has expired, the victory for the Knights and veterans is complete. Even the Foundation must have realized it didn’t have a constitutional leg to stand on in its endless crusade to wipe religion off the American map. Their bluff continues to be called by brave citizens and organizations who stand up and refused to be bullied. “FFRF should slink away with its tail between its legs,” says Becket’s Eric Baxter, lead attorney in this case. “The First Amendment prohibits religious coercion, not religious culture. Picking a fight with a sixty-year-old war memorial makes FFRF look petty.”

Originally published here.