Mat Staver has claimed that state fines
leveled against businesses for discriminating against gay couples
amounts to a “jizya” tax on Christians in America.
Staver heads Liberty Counsel, the
Christian conservative group that is representing Kentucky clerk Kim
Davis in her legal fight to keep her office from issuing marriage
licenses to gay couples.
(Related: Kim
Davis says God chose her to block gay marriage.)
During a recent Freedom Call radio
commentary, Staver criticized gays for implementing the jizya, a
discriminatory tax imposed on non-Muslims living in a Muslim state.
“Deep in the Islamic tradition is
jizya, a tax which forces non-Muslims to pay an exorbitant fee for
living within a Muslim state,” Staver
told his listeners. “Now, from farmers in New York to those
offering wedding cakes, photography and other services, all have been
fined thousands, and sometimes more than a hundred thousand dollars
for having and acting on a religious belief that is different from
homosexuals who demand their services.”
“These fees and fines are in essence
a tax on Christians who are living out their faith and beliefs in the
businesses that they labored for and have built. In America, we
should not fear paying a tax or fee to Muslims, nor to homosexuals,
just because our faith is different from theirs,” he added.