Indiana: Where the Bigots are Bigger--and Protected by Law!

In recent months, twenty red state legislatures have considered and/or passed what they have been calling "religious freedom" bills.  In case after case, state leadership has stopped short of actually making them into law.  Even former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, never the face of tolerance on any liberal issue, vetoed one of these bills when it arrived on her desk saying the bill had "the potential to create more problems than it purports to solve."

The winning streak for governmental common sense is over.  In a private ceremony on Thursday morning, Indiana Governor Mike Pence (R) became the first governor to actually sign one of these bills into law when he put his signature to Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act.



what eye thynk:  One detail that jumped out at me when I first read about this travesty, was that Governor Pence chose to sign the bill in a private ceremony.  If he and his fellow Republican bigots are so proud of their work on this, why the need to hide the actual signing--the exact historical moment when Indiana became the poster child for bigotry in America? Why turn their backs on the opportunity for a huge media event? Imagine:

"In Primetime! See Governor Mike Pence (R) Put Pen to Paper and Officially Ostracize Thousands of Indiana Citizens!  Tonight at 8:00PM! Exclusively on Fox!  Don't Miss This Once-in-a-Lifetime Event!"   

Megyn Kelly could have called a roll-call of Republican legislators and re-staged the signing of the Declaration of Independence, calling each proud Republican's name one by one.  The camera could have moved in for a close-up to record each legislator striding up to the podium and adding his signature to this, their magnificent document.

Imagine a cheering studio audience of conservative evangelicals leaping to their feet as the Governor puts his "John Hancock" to the document below the legislator's autographs, signifying it's official passage into Indiana law. 

Despite attempting to hide this proud moment in Indiana history from the public, Mr. Pence found himself immediately called upon to defend the bill.  His ridiculous reply: "There has been a lot of misunderstanding about this bill.  This bill is not about discrimination, and if I thought it legalized discrimination in any way I would've vetoed it."

If Governor Mike Pence really believes that statement, he is a bona fide idiot.  No matter what he or anyone in Indiana says, this bill was designed and written specifically to ensure that gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgendered people are denied their full rights, benefits and services.

Members of the media, realizing how large was the Sinkhole of Discriminatory Possibilities into which Indiana was about to disappear, asked Mr. Pence if he would consider adding sexual orientation to Indiana's civil rights law in order to prevent prejudice in the areas of employment or housing.  He answered, "That's not on my agenda.  I won't be pursuing that."

Conservative backers of the bill may claim the law will simply protect people of faith from being compelled to cater, or photograph or provide a cake for a same-sex wedding; but, in fact, the vague wording of the law opens possibilities for a much broader interpretation.

It goes way beyond weddings and bakeries and same-sex couples.  Under this law, any business can refuse service by claiming their religion tells them to.  Are you a militantly, conservatively, Catholic coffee shop owner?  You can refuse the neighborhood divorcee her morning latte; or if you're an uber-conservative Catholic working as a government clerk, you can refuse, not just a gay couple, but that same divorcee her application for a second marriage license.  Does your drugstore employ a pharmacist of the Hobby Lobby ilk?  He is free to refuse to fill a prescription for birth control.  Are you one of those evangelicals who believes everyone who isn't an equally ardent evangelical is a heathen idolater?  Fear not! Thou shalt no longer need to soil thy hands by accepting the debased lucre of a Buddhist or (gasp!) a Muslim.  Anti-Semitic?  No problem!  Claim you believe Jews to be unrepentant for the killing of your Jesus and that you would be sullied by selling the kid in the yarmulke the pencils he needs for his Yeshiva.

And it goes way beyond the Indiana service industry.  This new law can be used by any Indiana business owner to refuse employment or any Indiana landlord to deny housing to an applicant who does not fit their personal definition of "godly."

In fairness, not all Republicans are rejoicing over this legislation.  Indianapolis Mayor Gregory Ballard (R) spoke against the bill calling it a "wrong signal" for his city and his state.

And not all Christians are pleased to see Christianity--in any form--be so closely aligned with bigotry.  The Disciples of Christ Church told the governor that they were reconsidering bringing their 6,000 members to the state in 2017 for a convocation as planned.

Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act doesn't restore anything.  Every Indiana citizen is already free to worship as they choose and that right has never been under threat.  What this law really does is turn its back on 200+ years of American history to create a two-caste system of freedom.  Beginning this summer, there will exist 1) a class of fanatics, raised up by virtue of a state-awarded decree that protects their--and only their--freedom to worship, work, and live as they choose and 2) the rest of us.

I am ashamed for all the good and caring people who live there.