Reading through blogs and articles from Right Wing Christians, the claim of increasing discrimination an persecution of Christians seems to be a common theme. Claims of rampant "secularism" eroding the rights of Christians to practice their beliefs, or voice their opinions.
As a secular athiest on more on the Liberal/Left side of the political spectrum, I have to say that I really don't see merit to the claims being made.
A recent example is a Bakery in Colorado which refused to provide a cake for a same-sex wedding on the basis of the proprieters religious beliefs. The propieter is arguing that baking a cake is a form of expression, essentially speech, and therefore being compelled to bake a cake for an event that goes against their (sinerely held) religious beliefs is a violation of their first amendment rights. The state of Colorado is arguing that refusing to bake the cake is in violation of the public accomodation laws, under which facilities which are open to the public may not discriminate on the basis of race/color, sex/gender, ancestry or national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
The bakery is obviously a public facility, and it seems obvious that religious belief here is being used to avoid anti-discrimination laws. I don't see that the proprieter would get much traction if they were arguing for the right to discriminate against one of the other classes of people protected under the public accommodations law. If we substitute african americans, or an interacial couple, or women, or unmarried couples for same-sex couple, it sems obvious that the bakery has no right to refuse service in this case.
It seems to me that the bakery is arguing for the right for anyone to discriminate against anyone else, for (almost) any reason, as long as its because of "sincerely held religious beliefs". Does anyone actually want that? I doubt it.
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