This week Indiana passed a “Religious Freedom” bill that would exempt business from having to serve same-couples if that would somehow infringe on the religious beliefs of the owners.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2015/03/23/us/politics/23reuters-usa-indiana-gays.html
Now, when I grew up, Jews were routinely called “Christ Killers” and I would imagine that it could be against some believers to serve the descendants of their savior. And I recall some citing Biblical passages supporting slavery and discrimination against Blacks. Hindus, of course, are idolators and the Bible does warn us against those kinds of people. Recently, a Florida pastor called Terry Jones has called for the burning of the Koran and one could imagine that this bill, while it doesn’t directly protect Koran burning, might be used as a defense against attempts to prohibit this activity. Maybe the Indiana law would support all these activities. You can read the text of this law for yourself and decide.
https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2015/bills/senate/101#
On a TV interview with George Stephanopoulos, Governor Tom Pence refused to say whether this bill would allow businesses to provide services to gay weddings, blaming the media for creating a brouhaha about the bill.
Rule No.1: When you have a political problem, blame someone else.
On March 31, 2105 Governor Tom Pence agreed to “fix” the law, this apparently after many Indiana based companies objected and others, such as the NCAA showed concern about having future events in the state. It looks as though the economic implications of the bill may trump the religious freedoms Hoosiers value highly, but not so highly as to hurt them in the pocketbook.
Rule No. 2: When people say it’s not the money but the principle, remember that the principle is: It’s about the money.
Now, did those who oppose this bill support a similar one years ago. Read the following and decide for yourself.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/is-the-controversial-indiana-law-the-same-as-a-law-backed-by-obama/2015/03/31/d80e7494-2f5f-4b53-b68d-99d49574644d_story.html
If you take a look at the map, it seems that most of the states that have these laws are “Red” states. Most have a large socially conservative population that oppose same sex marriage, citing the Bible as a moral authority that condemns it. Many were part of the Confederate States of America which cited the Bible as the moral authority that accepted slavery.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/03/27/19-states-that-have-religious-freedom-laws-like-indianas-that-no-one-is-boycotting/
Arkansas passed a similar bill on March 30. It sure looks a lot like the Indiana bill.
http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/assembly/2015/2015R/Bills/HB1228.pdf