Scientology a main force behind Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Marty Rathbun's blog.

Marty Rathbun was an executive officer of the Scientology church until he left several years ago. He was featured on HBO's Going Clear documentary. Very outspoken. His blog is called Moving On Up a Little Higher.

Scientology and Religious Freedom Restoration Act

The blowback over Indiana governor Pence’s signing into law ‘The Religious Freedom Restoration Act’ has gone viral. Prominent citizens, politicians and human rights groups are aghast as the act’s potential for instituting discrimination against those who don’t toe the line to fundamentalist Christian sexual orientation standards. In defense of signing the act into law Indiana’s governor Pence has said it was based on the 1993 federal ‘Religious Freedom Restoration Act.’ See New York Times for more on the Act.

...“In 1991, Scientologists supported passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which was signed into law on November 16, 1993. The Church of Scientology International was an active member of the Coalition for the Free Exercise of Religion, a broad-based religious and civil liberties group that strenuously worked for passage of the act.” Scientology website

Scientology was so involved in its passage that its president was invited to the White House for the President Clinton’s signing of the original federal act. (President Heber C. Jentzsch crowed about it on Larry King Live)

What scientology doesn’t tout is that it shamelessly exploited the Act even before its final enactment. As it was wending its way through Congress, which scientology was directly and indirectly lobbying, scientology was using its imminent passage as leverage in obtaining tax exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service.

Scientology has used the federal Act for more than two decades to not only discriminate against the LGBT community, but also to immunize itself against charges ranging from human trafficking, to wrongful death, to fraud.