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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOp-ed: 'Religious discrimination' laws have nothing to do with religion
http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2015/03/31/op-ed-religious-discrimination-laws-have-nothing-do-religionThe value of religious freedom is paramount in our country thats why its enshrined in our nations Constitution. Let there be no doubt: People of faith and their right to exercise their closely held religious beliefs are fully protected. Most unfortunately, a select group of insidious activists and elected officials is pretending those protections dont exist and is threatening the civil rights of LGBT Americans.
Legislators in states such as Indiana, Arkansas, and Georgia are busy pushing bills that purport to further protect religious believers from the so-called scourge of government intrusion. But these bills arent about religious belief at all: Theyre about discrimination, pure and simple.
Legislative proposals like the one coming to Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and the bill Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed into law Thursday are driven not by belief but by fear of the unknown. As marriage equality edges closer and closer to becoming the law of the land, those who are dismayed by the broad sweep of progress are using so-called religious freedom bills as ballast. But doing so puts not only LGBT Americans and their families at risk it puts all of us in an untenable position.
These religious refusal proposals tell folks they can pick and choose which laws they want to follow. That individuals can sue not only businesses but teachers, firefighters, and police officers if they believe their religious rights are violated. If a police officer sues his precinct because he is required to patrol a mosque, can laws like the one in Indiana protect him? If a father sues a teacher because she disciplined his child under a community-wide antibullying policy, can legislation like that before the governor of Arkansas put that teacher in jeopardy? These bills are intentionally vague, leaving it up to an overburdened court system to decide whether an individuals religious beliefs are more important than another persons basic civil rights.
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Op-ed: 'Religious discrimination' laws have nothing to do with religion (Original Post)
gollygee
Mar 2015
OP
Exactly! They are using religion as a vail, a cloak to cover and justify their Bigotry and Hatred,
RKP5637
Mar 2015
#1
Apparently, we are no longer a "nation of laws" but a nation of religion?
world wide wally
Mar 2015
#2
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)1. Exactly! They are using religion as a vail, a cloak to cover and justify their Bigotry and Hatred,
and their goal to discriminate against and persecute all types of people. Everyone, just everyone knows what they are about. No matter how much BS they cover it with, the Bigotry, Hatred, Discrimination and Persecutory intent and behavior shines through bright and clear to all.
world wide wally
(21,749 posts)2. Apparently, we are no longer a "nation of laws" but a nation of religion?