Here’s a memo to all Christians: you will probably be fired from your job for your biblical convictions.

You may be thinking that being fired for your biblical convictions is discrimination, religious discrimination, and illegal and unconstitutional. But apparently it is perfectly acceptable to fire Christians for their beliefs. Let’s examine the evidence.

Yes, we can look back to the Duck Dynasty fiasco that nearly cost the network their number one show. No one seriously believed A&E would fire Phil Robertson for sharing his Christian convictions because, at this point, the show is still making A&E relevant in the cable market. Give it a couple years and it is reasonable to assume Duck Dynasty will be no more and A&E will fade back into obscurity.

Sure, we could look to the firing of Mozilla CEO Brenden Eich for donating to the Prop 8 campaign. It seems that employees can now be fired from their job for choosing to exercise their free speech as private citizens. Better be careful what you say in public, or in private. If some snooping gay activist can dig it up you can bet it will be used to oust you from your job.

The latest example is the Benham brothers.

Twin brothers David and Jason Benham were scheduled to host a show on HGTV this fall called “Flip It Forward.” They were going to help people get into the house flipping business by showing them how to select houses and do the work themselves needed to flip the house. Sounds like a good show.

Unfortunately the oh-so-tolerant liberal left media group “rightwingwatch.org” dug into the personal lives of the Benhams and found that, gasp, they are biblical Christians that believe in life and traditional marriage. Well, we just can’t have such people helping others in television so “rightwingwatch” sounded the alarm and called for the show to be cancelled; and wouldn’t you know HGTV cancelled the show. HGTV commented on the situation:

“HGTV is currently in process of reviewing all information about the Benhams and we will provide an update as soon as possible…HGTV has decided not to move forward with the Benham Brothers’ series.”

Now, there is no evidence that the Benham’s ever discriminated against anyone, or were preaching on the set, or showed any hostility or hate towards a single person. Nope, they just simply believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, and that abortion is murder. That was enough to get their show yanked. Specifically, it was a comment made on a Christian radio show that was particularly infuriating for opponents of the Benhams. David Benham said:

“We don’t realize that, okay, if 87 percent of Americans are Christians and yet we have abortion on demand; we have no-fault divorce; we have pornography and perversion; we have a homosexuality and its agenda that is attacking the nation; we have adultery; we have all of the things; we even have allowed demonic ideologies to take our universities and our public school systems while the church sits silent and just builds big churches. We are so complacent, we are so apathetic and we are very hypocritical in the church, that’s why the Bible says judgment begins in the house of God. So when we prayed at 714 we asked God and our city to forgive us for allowing these things in the house of God.”

Sounds like a much needed message for both the church and culture. Sounds like things I’ve said more than once.

Never mind the fact that a super majority of Americans hold to one or both of these same beliefs. Ignore the fact that 52% of Californians supported Prop 8. Forget that President Obama was elected twice while supporting traditional marriage. And by all means let’s not talk about the number of HGTV viewers that also believe in life and traditional marriage. Let’s demonize the Benhams and label them as “extremists” for their beliefs – which are shared by millions.

My friend and fellow blogger Derick Dickens commented on the idea that the Benhams are “extreme”:

“We have to wonder how extreme the Benhams are.  On these two issues, they have held a position that the vast majority of all American, the vast majority of Western Civilizations, have held onto.  In fact, just two years ago, our President of the United States held to the same view of marriage.  In fact, every President has held to this position. But what was acceptable merely two years ago, is now cause to blackball someone, label them ‘extreme,’ and fire them from their job…The Benhams are advancing nothing more than what Christians have believed since the beginning of Christianity. “

But, like Brendan Eich, like Phil Robertson, like many Christians, the Benhams are not apologizing for their beliefs, and they are not backing down. If the worse this world can do to them is to get them fired for their beliefs they are ready to accept that fate and count it all joy in “suffering” for the cause of Christ. When faced with the reality that they would lost their HGTV show the Bemhams said:

“With all of the grotesque things that can be seen and heard on television today you would think there would be room for two twin brothers who are faithful to our families, committed to biblical principles, and dedicated professionals. If our faith costs us a television show then so be it.”

I like these guys. I’d like to get a burger with them and talk baseball.

Sorry Benham brothers, while your logical, rational, even tolerant thinking is indeed correct, that there should be a place for two brothers that are faithful to their families, committed to biblical principles, and dedicated professionals, the reality is that you are not politically correct. If only you were Muslims, then we could tolerate your religious convictions; but the fact that you are Christians with these views, well, that’s not gonna work. And neither are you.

I’ve written previously on the death of free speech in America. And I’ve said countless times before that if the government redefines marriage for homosexuals it will have to continue redefining it for every other group or be guilty of the same “discrimination” it now accuses traditional marriage supporters of. And as the government and our society plunges deeper into the black hole of politically correct marriage definitions, we can expect those who disagree, the dissenters, to be persecuted.

One article highlighted that this situation even violates HGTV’s own diversity policy.

HGTV’s decision to exclude those who hold to a faith-based viewpoint…has no place in America’s inclusive rainbow of diversity. And this decision contradicts HGTV’s stated core values of integrity and diversity, which emphasize ‘having a strong moral compass which points to character, honesty, ethical practice and accountability’ and hold that all are included in the ‘broad canvas of interests, backgrounds, lifestyles and ethnicities.’”

HGTV’s “canvas of interests, backgrounds, lifestyles and ethnicities” doesn’t seem very broad at all, seems rather…narrow.

But this sort of twisted, hypocritical behavior is characteristic of the liberal left. They talk about inclusion while excluding millions. They philosophize about tolerance while behaving in the most intolerant ways. They idolize diversity so long as it meets their definition of diverse. All others will be not merely be opposed, you will be targeted, and you will be silenced.

The day is rapidly approaching when opposing homosexuality in any way, spoken or otherwise, will be a job losing offense. If Brendan Eich can be fired for supporting Prop 8, so can the millions of other Californians that did likewise. If HGTV can pull the plug on a show for the personal convictions of the hosts, no one is above being “removed” for their convictions.

The Benhams stood firm and refused to back down even when faced with losing work. What about the rest of us?