Where’s the tolerance? Senate Bill 2, the “Minority Status Bill” brewing in Salem, has been carefully devised by a handful of activist legislators who have made clear their intentions to “stick it to the faith community” with the bill’s decidedly paltry religious exemption.

During the March 12 public hearing, Senator Vicki Walker (D-Eugene) cited constitutionally forced arm-twisting as the only conceivable reason to even consider a religious exemption.  She even went so far as to suggest that churches’ religious freedom be eliminated altogether!

During testimony by one of the state’s leading pastors, Senator Ginny Burdick’s (D-Portland) disengaged posture during the testimony did nothing to hide her lack of interest… like listening to public testimony was cramping her legislative style.

Specifically, SB 2 limits a church’s religious freedom to employ those who follow their faith, the deciding factor being whether the position in question is tied to the church’s primary purpose. And who do you suppose will decide that? The courts will, of course. Which brings up the question of whether defending themselves against lawsuits is a fair burden to attach to Oregon churches’ purse strings. Definitely not.

And for any non-church enterprise—whether faith-based or secular—there is no exemption; a religious bookstore may be forced to employ someone who is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or whose gender identity differs from their biology. (READ: A Christian bookstore may be legally forced to hire a cross-dresser to man the checkout line.)

Religious freedom? Why, that may be a thing of Oregon’s past! Now we have the government to decide where our convictions must lie. And if that’s where we’re heading, a Measure 36-style conflict may be the only option left for Oregon’s faith community to defend itself. It may be the only course of action for churches, mosques, and synagogues that want to keep their religious freedoms intact.