The Benham brothers, known as businessmen extraordinaire, are on video defending the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in Indiana, the target of harsh criticism by homosexual activists this week.
And they know of what they speak, being successful in business and having been the subjects of discrimination because of their Christian faith.
Jason and David, who just weeks ago began writing an exclusive WND column, posted on Facebook a video about the dispute:
The Indiana law, similar to the federal law signed by President Clinton in 1993 as well as laws in dozens of other states, suddenly grabbed the headlines when protesters vocally condemned it as discrimination against the LGBT community.
The law, however, doesn’t mention “gays” and is designed only to ensure the First Amendment rights of people to not violate their religious beliefs in the workplace. It sets a high standard, requiring the state have a compelling interest and that the free exercise of faith be “substantially burdened.”
The video explains: “So the RFRA is a shield, not a sword. It doesn’t get offensive and promote ‘hate’ as the hype said. But it’s a shield to protect companies, like, for instance, a Jewish-owned jewelry. It keeps the state from forcing him to create rings with the Nazi symbol on it. Or a Muslim-owned apparel company. It prevents the state from forcing him to maybe make T-shirts with the cross over the crescent.
“Or even a gay-owned apparel company from creating T-shirts that say Leviticus 18:22. Homosexuality is a sin.”
Very simply, “the state should never force business owners to promote a message or an idea that conflicts with their beliefs,” David Benham states.
“So this is what RFRA is all about, so Jason and I, even when we were fired by HGTV, never got onto them. We said, ‘You know what? We live in a free country. If they don’t agree with our message, if they don’t agree with our beliefs, they have a right to fire us.”
Such laws are important “because the state is now stepping in to try and force businesses to promote ideas and events and message that are against their beliefs,” which is “un-American.”
As WND reported, the veteran home-flippers were elated when a production company first approached them about starring in their own reality TV show.
Eventually, five networks made offers, with HGTV submitting the best: six one-hour episodes, straight to TV, with no pilot episode necessary.
The show was to be called “Flip it Forward” and would feature the Benham brothers transforming fixer-uppers into dream homes for families.
As Christians, they felt graced by God.
Then the show crashed. A liberal “watchdog” organization made a campaign of what HGTV already knew – that the brothers believed in the standards established in the Bible regarding marriage and life.
The brothers’ views, however, were portraying by media as “anti-gay” and “anti-choice,” and the show was canceled.
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SOURCE: WND, Bob Unruh
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