Tag something “religious” and it’s easy to take shots at it.

Label something religious “bigoted” or “close-minded” and you’re a hero. You’re even more of a hero if you “come” from that group and take shots.

In this Holy Week, the gospel texts focus on the last few days of Jesus before his arrest. He has taken the gloves off with the Jewish leaders and is pounding away. The problem of the leadership was setting up hard boundaries about who was “in” and who was “out,” and here comes the Kingdom of God coloring across their lines. They realize Jesus has to be stopped. They can’t handle these open assaults anymore.

What makes religious legalism so attractive is you can easily tell who is “in” and who is “out” by their actions, their clothing, their hair style, the length of the skirt, etc.

Yes, it is easy to rail away at the religious legalism so rampant in our very divided culture. “Bad evangelicals!” “Bad fundamentalists!” “Bigots! All of you!”

Yet, no one says anything about the new social orthodoxy and its legalism. Maybe it’s because it crosses religious lines and enters into territory that gets a bit more personal.

If I’m not religious, it is so easy to yell at the religious for their legalism. And then, if the religious evil bigots say something in return, I can just say, “Well, you’re a religious bigot.”

Careful. I’m about to become one of those people. 

To the “left” and to the “right” we now have the social orthodoxy of where to eat and where to get your coffee based on your view of gay marriage.

You also have to the “left” and to the “right” of how to purchase your food based on your view of “fair trade.”

To the “left” and to the “right” we have the social orthodoxy of where to make your purchases based on union rights or management rights.

And believe me, you will be judged by the label on your coffee cup or the food chain symbol on your lunch bag. 

The recent kerfuffle on the “right” concerning Howard Schultz and the very incorrect statement that he said, “If you support traditional marriage buy your coffee someplace else,” is easy to take a shot at because that comes from evil religious bigots.

But let me walk into a meeting with some gay friends holding a Chik-fil-a bag and see what kind of temperature drop I get in the room.

Friends, on both sides… this is just getting stupid. 

I was in a clergy meeting with friends a couple of weeks ago and one friend was brave enough to speak out something incredibly truthful. “Are there not bigger issues in the gospel? Can we not see that the issues of poverty, the issues of inequity in how the poor are taken care of, and so much more are such BIGGER issues in the gospel?”

We have a new social legalism now and it’s just not right.

If I’m holding a Starbucks cup now, I’m for gay marriage.

If I find a Chik-fil-a restaurant somewhere and I come out holding a Chik-fil-a bag, I’m against gay marriage.

If I don’t buy this product, I’m for the abuse of third world farmers.

Just. Knock. It. Off. 

You, religious person, and you, non-religious person, have real legalism issues.

So, could you kindly get them away from my coffee cup, my lunch bag, and my grocery cart and take it somewhere else?