A coalition of more than 1300 Texas pastors, rabbies, and imams has formed to speak out on the single most important case to go before the U.S. Supreme Court this year, Masterpiece Cake Shop Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The case pits a Colorado bake shop owner, Jack Philips, against a same sex couple who asked Philips to bake a case for their wedding. Philips, who says he is a 'born again Christian,' says he shouldn't be forced to bake the cake because same sex weddings violate his deeply held religious beliefs.
But the Texas pastors, who plan to file an amicus brief in the case, says there is nothing in the Bible or other respected Christian scriptures or texts which make homosexuality, or same sex weddings, incompatable with the faith.
"There are six scripture passages that are used against the LGBT community," The Rev. Laura Walters of the Presbyterian Church of Lake Travis told News Radio 1200 WOAI. "But when you get in and look at those scripture passages, they do not say what the 'religious right' says they say."
She and other pastors says the scriptures say more about social mores and practices of two to three thousand years ago than a moral lesson for today.
"What's to say we can't discriminate against women who refuse to wear dresses, because that is in scripture, or how about discriminating against women who cut their hair short, because that is in scripture."
The pastors point out that Christian and other religious texts have been used to justify some of the most egrigious practices of history, from torture to slavery.
The Masterpiece case will touch on more than just LGBT rights. It is a critical case because it will test the limits of religious freedom, and many are worried that a ruling against Masterpiece could lead, for example, to a ban on the wearing of crosses, yarmulkas, and burkas in certain settings.
But opponents of Masterpiece say all people should be required to follow the law of the land, and as what is defined as a 'public accommodation,' which is a private business that opens its doors to the public, Masterpiece cannot be allowed to discriminate against certain customers for illegal reasons.
Arguments are set for December 5th, with a ruling by the end of June, 2018.