The very first amendment of the United States Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.“  The various clauses have been widely called “Freedom of Religion,” “Freedom of Speech,” “Freedom of the Press,” and “Freedom of Assembly.”   They are among the most cherished of American freedoms.

The City of Houston is testing that freedom by subpoenaing the sermons and communications of several pastors who have disagreed with a city ordinance.  It’s a long and complicated story focusing on an Equal Rights Ordinance.  The title—Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, HERO for short—sounds like something anyone would agree with, but many Houston residents believe that it would make women and children vulnerable to sexual predators because it gives people the right to use public restrooms of the gender they identify with rather than using the restroom identified by their natural gender.

There was an outcry, but the ordinance passed, led by the Mayor of Houston, a self-identified lesbian woman.  Referendum signatures against the ordinance were turned in, but a judge ruled them invalid because of the way they were collected.  A lawsuit was filed to protest the ignored signatures.

All of this sounds like typical city politics on a volatile issue, until the city of Houston issued subpoenas for the sermons of pastors who opposed the ordinance.  (These are pastors who opposed the ordinance, but are not part of the lawsuit.)  And the subpoena is incredibly broad, asking for copies of all speeches, presentations, or sermons related to the ordinance, the petition, or on homosexuality or gender identity.

The churches and pastors, should, in my opinion, refuse on the grounds of religious freedom and the freedom of speech.  Government has no right to oversee, supervise, or even analyze the sermons of pastors, and we need to stand on those rights.  I say this, even though I am aware of these things:

• This “restroom issue” is relatively minor in the big picture. 

• Under any other circumstances, pastors would freely give copies of their sermons to anyone who wants one.  Most of us even post them on the internet.

• The city is now backpedaling, and saying it will limit the scope of the subpoenas.

• The pastors, according to the city, face potential jail time and fines if they refuse, so it’s easy for me to say what they should do—they are the ones that face the penalties.

Nevertheless, the issue of freedom of religion is not a minor issue, and those facts do not mean that we should give in.  We can’t stand by and allow a government agency to threaten our freedoms or the content of our sermons.  We will gladly give away the content of our sermons, but we should not be forced to do so by a branch of government.  Churches have always had a right to speak to the moral issues of the day without government input, government supervision, or government intrusion.  I agree with Southern Baptist ethicist Russell Moore, who said, “The preaching of sermons in the pulpits of churches is of no concern to any government bureaucrat at all.  The country settled, a long time ago, with a First Amendment that the government would not supervise, license, or bully religious institutions.”

 Freedom of religion and speech are too important for us to back down in this case.