Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 22:3 (Fall 2018)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

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Book Reviews

Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination. By John Corvino, Ryan T. Anderson, and Sheriff Girgis. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017, 262 pp., $21.95 Paper.

In 2015, the United States Supreme Court, in a 5–4 decision, redefined the institution of marriage by ruling that same-sex couples possessed the “right” to marry. At the time, many cultural observers believed that the marriage debate had finally been settled. However, in the two years since the decision, the opposite has proven true.

Rather than resolving the twenty-first century’s most hotly debated culture war issue, Obergefell merely expediated the new frontier of the culture wars: the inevitable collision between erotic and religious liberty. In fact, the confrontation between these liberties—the former, championed by LGBT revolutionaries, and the latter, enshrined and protected by the United States Constitution—has been at the center of several high-profile and contentious legal battles across the country over the last two and a half years, particularly in wedding-related professions, as Christian photographers, florists, bakers, and custom service professionals have faced fines, lawsuits, and even jail time for refusing to participate in ceremonies that violate their religious convictions.

This ideological conflict was foreseeable. During Obergefell oral arguments, Donald Verrilli, President Obama’s Solicitor General, conceded that legalizing same-sex marriage would present a challenge to religious liberty. When pressed by Justice Alito on whether Christian colleges would be forced to provide housing to same-sex couples if marriage were redefined Verrilli replied, “It’s certainly going to be an issue. I don’t deny that.”

Prophetically, Verrilli’s remark foreshadowed the post-Obergefell political and legal landscape increasingly antagonistic to institutions and professionals guided by sincere religious convictions. This includes private adoption agencies, hospitals, charities, and universities. Despite Justice Anthony Kennedy’s assurance that Americans holding traditional

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beliefs about marriage and human sexuality based on “decent and honorable premises” would be treated with respect and not “disparaged,” the intervening years have proven otherwise. LGBT advocates, not content with “marriage equality,” are now campaigning for SOGI (sexual orientation and gender identity) laws that would abrogate the liberty of those with religious convictions. Conservative Christians have responded with pleas for tolerance and an open public square that respects a diversity of opinion.

In the clash between er...