In a crowded Republican primary field, every candidate has to do something to break out: offer new policies, bring a dynamic spin to his message, or burnish a record so compelling it demands voters’ attention. Chris Christie has apparently decided to break through the Republican ranks by running on a new policy: Banish Christians from the public square.
Interviewed last week about whether a Christian clerk should be able to refuse to perform a same-sex “marriage” if it would violate his or her sincerely held religious beliefs, Christie told the Christians to get lost.
“You took the job, and you took the oath,” he lectured Christians in public service. “When you go back and re-read the oath, it doesn’t give you an out. You have to do it.”
“I’m sure there are individual circumstances that might merit some examination,” he admitted, before dismissing them all: “But none that come immediately to mind for me.”
“I think for folks who are in the government world, they kind of have to do their job, whether you agree with the law or you don’t,” Christie said.
Christians who work in clerks offices and other official capacities have asked for the right to opt out of personally blessing gay “marriages” now that the institution has been redefined nationwide by five unelected judges. Under state and federal law, homosexuals would still receive a state marriage license, but the paperwork – and, if requested, the “wedding” ceremony – would be provided by another employee who does not have a religious objection.
Christie told Christians, in effect: Drop dead.
Christie’s position may go further than federal law. The EEOC notes, “The law requires an employer or other covered entity to reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious beliefs or practices, unless doing so would cause more than a minimal burden on the operations of the employer’s business. This means an employer may be required to make reasonable adjustments to the work environment that will allow an employee to practice his or her religion.”
That regulation covers federal, state, and local governments.
This is just another reason Christians won’t vote for Chris Christie in the primaries.
With this and numerous other positions, he seems to be staking out ground as the anti-Christian Republican candidate.
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