When the government tries to force businessmen to service affairs they find morally objectionable, their first instinct if they’re principled is defiance. Many have already taken this approach, including upstate New York farmers who face $13,000 in fines for refusing to host faux weddings on their property; and 70-year-old Washington state florist Barronelle Stutzman, who now faces financial ruin because she refused to provide flowers for a longtime customer’s faux wedding. But while this straightforward refusal to place purse ahead of principle is admirable, is there a better way? Perhaps in this militant-secular time, where Christians again are “sheep in the midst of wolves,” as Jesus said, they should also be “wise as serpents.”
And a little wisdom has come to us from Madison, Wisconsin, priest and blogger Father John Zuhlsdorf, who has outlined a way to completely turn the tables on today’s sexual fascists. He says that if customers request you cater a homosexual affair, say yes. But then stipulate what your services will actually entail (while his example involves Catholic elements, Protestant ones could be used as well). He writes:
Tell them that the food and services will be just fine. And then inform them that all of the money that they pay for the services will be donated to a traditional pro-family lobby. If it is something like catering, where your employees have to be there to provide services, tell them that all your people will smile, be professional, and every one of them will be wearing crucifixes and have the Holy Family embroidered on their uniforms. Then show them pictures of your uniforms. When the truck pulls up, speakers will be playing Immaculate Mary. Show them the truck and play the music.
“Oh, you would be offended by that? I’m so sorry. You approached us because we are Christians. Right? We are happy to provide services for you and we are grateful that you chose to come to our Christian catering business. We just want to be of help.”
Then tell them that you will take out an ad in the paper to let everyone know what you did with their money, thanking them by name for their business so that you could make the contribution.
(Hat tip: writer Jack Kemp.)
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Father Zuhlsdorf surmises that a general application of this approach would end the attacks on Christian businesses. And not only will it likely deter most homosexual activists — who generally don’t want to give the Christians business but only the business — but what if the odd odd couple does take you up on your offer (hard to imagine)? Then you have the opportunity to lovingly witness for your faith where it’s needed most. Either way, your conscience remains unmolested.
It’s also a quintessentially Christian response. While today’s persecuted faith-filled businessmen are nobly enduring a type of soft martyrdom, such sacrifice should perhaps be viewed as a last resort. In fact, according to late theologian Walter Wink, Jesus himself indicated that standard non-violent resistance was often preferable. Just consider, for instance, the counsel “turn the other cheek.” Far from being a prescription for doormat status as is commonly thought today, it actually was a strategy the persecuted could use to maintain their dignity and morally combat unjust authority (a complete explanation is found here). And in line with this, Father Zuhlsdorf’s approach is an ideal response.
Yet even more can be done. Many readers know the story of Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Indiana. After owners Kevin and Crystal O’Connor were asked late last month a hypothetical question about whether they’d cater a faux wedding and answered no, they were targeted by leftists, with reputation-damaging falsehoods and serious threats of violence; the climate was so hostile the O’Conners closed their business and went into hiding (they’ve since reopened). But also notable was the response by fellow traditionalists coast to coast:
Not only did they offer moral support, but a GoFundMe.com campaign raised $842,000 for the couple in just two days.
It’s important to fully understand this action’s significance. The Left is actuating the counsel of philosophical father Saul “the Red” Alinsky, who stated in Rule 12 in his book Rules for Radicals, “‘Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.’ Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.” In keeping with this, the Left is sending a message: “Oppose our sexual agenda and we will destroy you. You will lose your career, your financial security, your means to support your family.” It’s quite effective.
But something else is as well. The aid given to Memories Pizza must be replicated every time a Christian business is targeted for destruction.
Every time.
To this end, traditionalists need to create a quick-response organization that can provide material aid to any businessman persecuted by the Left’s sexual storm troopers. For average traditionalist entities are small and can easily be picked off one by one. But unite them, ah — that’s a formidable force. And if this organization had 500,000 citizen members — precious few in a nation of 317 million — each pledging to donate a mere $2 to any targeted business, that’s $1,000,000. And it would send a message: “You want to ‘hurt’ Christians who disagree with you? You can try. But you’ll impoverish no one. Your actions will result in the object of your hate becoming rich.”
This would powerfully negate the Left’s strategy, as it uses their characteristic envy to neutralize the actuation of their characteristic hate. As this research shows, they cannot stand others having more than they do. And the prospect of their actions making a despised target wealthy is intolerable to them. This was evidenced, mind you, in left-wing websites’ comments sections after the Memories Pizza affair: Posters were absolutely livid that the O’Connors were making out like, uh, let’s say, global-warming/green-business con-artists or the Clintons. Some even accused the couple of orchestrating the whole incident as a scam.
Obviously, none of this will change the overall trajectory of our culture, which is hurtling in a decidedly anti-Christian direction toward a new pagan Roman arena. But immediate battles must be fought. And when dealing with the snakes of social engineering and destruction, being wise as serpents is a good idea.
