“On October 14, several conservative news sites began writing about the subpoenas, and that sparked a swift and loud national evangelical response. The more outraged responses came from a number of evangelical pundits who have made careers out of blowing the bugle of petty culture wars. But others came from leaders who are not known for exaggeration or sensationalism, like the Southern Baptist Convention’s Russell Moore, who politely but firmly asked the mayor to rescind the subpoenas and respect the pastors’ rights.”

In Houston, Texas, a conflict has been developing between evangelicals and the city over religious speech, LGBT rights, and the power of the government.

Last April, Mayor Annise Parker proposed a city ordinance aimed at defending Houstonians against discrimination based on a number of factors, including sexual orientation and gender. As part of this ordinance, which was quickly passed by city council a month later, individuals would be allowed to use the public bathrooms they felt most comfortable with based on their gender identification. The ordinance was immediately opposed by many in Houston, particularly those in the Christian community who had concerns about how their churches and businesses would be affected. In response, they wrote a petition to repeal the ordinance. According to those behind the petition effort, they managed to get fifty thousand signatures, many more than the seventeen thousand required by the city. The city attorney, David Feldman, disqualified the petition, claiming that a majority of the signatures were invalid. The petitioners sued the city, denying Feldman’s claim.

It was during the discovery process of this lawsuit that the city issued subpoenas to five Houston pastors who had been active in promoting the petition. The original subpoenas were issued on September 5, demanding a broad set of documents, including emails, text messages, and sermons that mentioned homosexuality, the mayor, and gender identity “in connection in any way” with the petition. This would include private emails between congregants and pastors, as well as any sermon that condemned gay marriage, for example—even though the city ordinance was not about gay marriage at all.

On October 14, several conservative news sites began writing about the subpoenas, and that sparked a swift and loud national evangelical response. The more outraged responses came from a number of evangelical pundits who have made careers out of blowing the bugle of petty culture wars. But others came from leaders who are not known for exaggeration or sensationalism, like the Southern Baptist Convention’s Russell Moore, who politely but firmly asked the mayor to rescind the subpoenas and respect the pastors’ rights.

Taken together, it’s interesting to note how rapidly the evangelical narrative of persecution developed. It was as if Christian leaders had been anticipating a time when the government would come into their churches and pronounce their views illegal, and now that time had finally arrived. Some even claimed to have predicted this very event. The narrative was cohesive and dramatic: They want to silence us, they want to outlaw our beliefs, and if we do not act now, we may not have a church in America tomorrow. This response betrayed deep fears about government intrusion into the church and the personal lives of believers.

Seen this way, this conflict was not just a local church-state conflict; it’s part of the larger, on-going American drama of religious freedom and pluralism. Evangelicals perceive that the culture they inhabit is shifting radically; the basic assumptions they make about the truth of existence and moral behavior are no longer the cultural consensus—and, often, even viewed as barbaric, bigoted, and evil.

In some ways, this was just another incident in the so-called culture wars—conservative Christians finding themselves at odds with changing laws and policies. But the details of the case actually reveal something much more complex.

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