WITH its stone tower, Gothic arches and half-timbered walls, the Harvest Bible Chapel in Grimes, Iowa, would make a fine setting for an Agatha Christie murder. But on the religious right the church is notorious as the scene, in 2013, of a different crime. Back then the chapel was being used as a commercial wedding hall when its owners, Betty and Richard Odgaard, declined to host a gay marriage, citing their religious beliefs. Because the building was not legally a church at that point, the Odgaards fell foul of discrimination laws and—rather than celebrate gay unions—closed their wedding business.
Today the building is a church again after its sale to a group of Christians—members of the 60m-strong community of Americans who call themselves born-again or evangelical Protestants. Its young pastor, Ryan Jorgenson, calls the Odgaards “heroes”. Like many evangelicals, he sees a pattern of bullying by secular foes and their allies in government. He worries about Christian employers having to fund health insurance that covers birth-control methods targeting fertilised eggs, and wonders if religious colleges will one day have to admit unrepentantly gay...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/1PM0pPK
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