Indiana and the Byzantines

By Rick Kitzman

This year, I finished reading A Short History of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich — written between 1988 and 1995 — for the second time. Last year I finished The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon, written between 1776 and 1788. (So you don’t think I’m too snooty, I read both works in their abridged versions. I also recently read Calvin and Hobbes and Bloom County.)
That I feel I must qualify what I read speaks to my perception that intellectuals are becoming — if they aren’t already — an anathema in my country. I don’t claim to be an intellectual; I just love to read. Our fabulous United States, home of astonishing intellectual advances in its brief existence is fascinatingly not unlike the Roman and Byzantine empires, and is in dire threat of sliding into chaos. I’ve no doubt the Religious Right agrees with me, but for polar opposite reasons.

It reared its ugly head on March 23, when the Indiana House of Representatives joined their state’s Senate and passed a bill that would exempt individuals and companies from non-discrimination rulings by the courts based on their religious beliefs. Those religious beliefs are founded upon Christian dogma, diabolically devised by the early Catholic Church more than a thousand years ago.

This Roman and Byzantine history affects the politics of today in terrifying ways. What the Religious Right holds as gospel truth is based on an ocean of blood and an org chart of political machinations that make Francis and Claire Underwood look like George and Martha Washington.

If you think I’m being overly dramatic, consider this: On February 26, 2015, the “Sodomite Suppression Act,” submitted by Orange County attorney Matt McLaughlin, appeared on the desk of the California Attorney General. Homosexuals would be executed by “bullets to the head or by any other convenient method.” Out of bullets? Rocks will do. After all, that’s what the Bible uses many times to execute the out-of-line and keep others in line. If you think this bill would never find support in this country, well then, yes indeedy, pretty pink pigs can fly. Is the Indiana bill any less wacky or sickening? Indiana Republican Governor Mike Pence has indicated he will sign the bill. Three words, Governor Pence: Colorado Amendment 2.

In 1992, Colorado voters approved an addition to our state’s constitution that prevented protected status based upon homosexuality or bisexuality. The United States Supreme Court heard the landmark case, Romer v. Evans, in 1996 and ruled that the law did not satisfy the Equal Protection Clause, part of Amendment 14 to the United States Constitution passed in 1868.

I have a picture of me wearing a T-shirt: “ColoraDON’T.” An international boycott lost the state millions of dollars in cancelled and future business projects and for our crucial tourism industry. We had to wear an embarrassing stain on our state’s heritage. (Filmmakers of Stephen King’s The Stand were to use Boulder for authenticity as the site of the good guys, but moved to California. It’s my favorite King novel, and I truly was very disappointed and saddened. See, I also read pulp.)

The Court’s ruling on Romer v. Evans passed 6–3. The dissenting justices in 1996? Scalia, Rehnquist, Thomas. OMG! Die already! Twenty years later(!), I’ve no doubt they will be dissenting yet again when the Court hears arguments for same-sex marriage.

Potential boycotts of Indiana have been announced by Yelp, GenCon, Salesforce, the City of San Francisco, Eli Lilly and Company, the NCAA, Disciples of Christ (they’re not all bad), and Miley Cyrus. (Atta girl! Show your big girl panties; just remember to wear them.)

The Indiana legislature and Senate can cloak their bill as “religious liberty” all it wants. Bigotry is still bigotry. Hypocrisy is still hypocrisy. Follow the timeline: Religious freedom in the United States in the 1500s, Moral Majority in 1980, AIDS plague, Colorado Amendment 2, “Sodomite Suppression Act,” Indiana bill on discriminating gays — it all leads back to early Christianity during the Roman and Byzantine Empires. And it all leads up to Election 2016.

I could curl up with my two Opus plush toys (true story), pull the covers over my eyes, and read comic books. I prefer to believe the next presidential election will be the Religious Right’s losing last stand, hopefully not as apocryphal as Stephen King’s, but no less prophetic for future generations.

Know history. It’s a powerful tool, and we’ll need powerful tools in the months to come. With apologies to Bette Davis purists and screenwriter Joseph L. Mankiewicz — fasten your seatbelts; it’s going to be a bumpy twenty months.