Texas Pastors Group Sues Demanding License to Discriminate Against Gays

Between backing Republican policies which are the antithesis of what the Christ's Gospel message calls one to do and demanding the right to discriminate against others, conservative "Christians" - I use quotation marks because by their actions they prove they are not - provide an never ending example of why one might consider shunning the Christian label.  Instead of being known for their love toward their fellow man, these modern day Pharisees are best defined by their hatred of others and hypocrisy.  A case in point is the self-styled "U.S. Pastors Council" - comprised of twenty some Houston area churches - which is suing City of Austin, Austin Mayor Steve Adler, and Sareta Davis, chair of the Austin Human Rights Commission to block Austin's non-discrimination ordinance that includes LGBT protections.  A perusal of the group's website reveals that feeding the hungry, housing the homeless and caring for the sick is nowhere in its agenda.  Rather, its sole focus is demanding special rights for Christofascists and inflicting member churches' Bronze Age beliefs on all citizens.   KUT-TV looks at the lawsuit and the hate and batshitery that passes for Christian "values."  Here are excerpts:

A Houston-based religious nonprofit behind the so-called bathroom bill is suing the City of Austin over its anti-discrimination hiring ordinance. The U.S. Pastor Council filed suit in a federal district court late last week, alleging the city rule's lack of exemptions for churches or other religiously affiliated groups violates state and federal law.

The suit asks the court to block the enforcement of the ordinance on behalf of its 25 member churches in the Austin area "because these member churches rely on the Bible rather than modern-day cultural fads for religious and moral guidance, they will not hire practicing homosexuals or transgendered people as clergy."

In a June letter to the Austin City Council, Executive Director David Welch reasoned that the ordinance didn't provide wide enough berth for religious exemption 

In a written statement today, the city defended its anti-discrimination ordinance.

"The ordinance reflects our values and culture respecting the dignity and rights of every individual," said city spokesperson David Green. "We are prepared to vigorously defend the City against this challenge to the City’s civil rights protections."

First founded in 2003, the U.S. Pastor Council was the driving force behind a bill that aimed to require transgender Texans to use restrooms that correspond to their gender at birth – not their gender identity. That bill failed to pass the Texas House in 2017, though Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and other lawmakers may revisit the issue in the next legislative session.

 As LGBTQ Nation notes:

Federal law already allows churches to follow their religion when making hiring decisions if the position is religiously-related. For example, Catholic churches are not required to ordain priests.

The Austin ordinance includes similar religious exemptions already.