Banning Christian Orthodoxy in California

David French has a must-read article over at National Review about a troubling development coming out of the California General Assembly. In short—and this is not alarmist langue, it is actually what is being proposed—California is a few votes away from banning Christian orthodoxy from book stores, and possibly even from conferences and events. Here’s an excerpt:

“Assembly Bill 2943 would make it an ‘unlawful business practice’ to engage in ‘a transaction intended to result or that results in the sale or lease of goods or services to any consumer’ that advertise, offer to engage in, or do engage in ‘sexual orientation change efforts with an individual.’

“The bill then defines ‘sexual orientations change efforts’ as ‘any practices that seek to change an individual’s sexual orientation. This includes efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions, or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same sex.’ (Emphasis added.)

“This is extraordinarily radical. Christian orthodoxy is simple — regardless of a person’s desires (their ‘orientation’), the standard of right conduct is crystal clear. Sex is reserved for marriage between a man and a woman. When it comes to ‘gender expression,’ there is no difference between ‘sex’ and ‘gender,’ and the Christian response to gender dysphoria is compassion and treatment, not indulgence and surgical mutilation.

“Put another way, there is a fundamental difference between temptation and sin. California law would intrude directly on this teaching by prohibiting even the argument that regardless of sexual desire, a person’s sexual behavior should conform to Biblical standards.”

In today’s Briefing, Dr. Albert Mohler comments that this bill would “make it virtually illegal for anyone to represent orthodox Christian teaching on issues of gender and sex and sexual morality” (you can listen to the full episode here).

Orwellian thought crime and banned books used to be the boogeymen of sci-fi and news reports from distant lands. Now it is making inroads into the land of the free and the home of the brave. And what happens in California often does not stay in California. Christians must pay attention to what is happening on the West Coast.

Were a law like this to be passed, CBMW’s material could become contraband in California. But we need only to look to the examples of the OT prophets and the NT apostles to know what we must do if that were to happen. With Peter we must say, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). And by God’s grace, we will.