A number of states have recently enacted “religious
freedom bills,” with a whole host of unintended consequences.
One of the more glaring unintended consequences is
that such laws protect Islamic bigotries, just as much as they do
fundamentalist Christian ones.
Under such laws, a Muslim store clerk would be
protected from being fired for refusing to sell alcohol to patrons, or refusing
to conduct commerce with females, ordering women customers to “get your husband to come in and pay for
this.”
YES, Islam is just as much an accepted religion
(already protected by the 1st Amendment, from government sanctions) as any
other religion...so is Satanism.
Last Thursday, Georgia’s State Legislature provided
a bit of comic relief, while denying that “overt discrimination” was the
intention of the religious freedom bill, then when protections against
discrimination were added to that bill, the House Judiciary Committee quickly
and unceremoniously tabled the bill. Rep. Barry Fleming (R-Harlem) warned the
committee that if the amendment passed and anti-discrimination language was
included in the final version of the bill, he would vote no on it, as in his
words, "This is the amendment that will gut this bill."
Enough said.
Ironically enough, the offending amendment was
proposed by fellow REPUBLICAN Rep.
Mike Jacobs (R-Brookhaven), who stated that he was inundated with calls and
emails from constituents concerned about the bill's effects. After several
minutes of debate and a call to vote on the amendment, and the committee then voted
9 to 8 to pass the amendment.
That same day, over in Arizona, Sen. Sylvia Allen,
R-Snowflake, said, "Probably we
should be debating a bill requiring every American to attend a church of their
choice on Sunday." Yeah, and another good idea would be a return to
burning "witches."
I don’t know buckaroos, but to paraphrase Howard
Stern, about country music (you can listen to THIS https://www.youtube.com/watch… as you read the rest) ....I don’t
know, maybe it’s because I went to College, read a bunch of books and I’ve
never had sex with my sister, but I really don’t get any of this religious
fundamentalism. Like I've said before, I don't hate religious people, even
religious zealots...I just don't get them. I never have...(You can turn off
Slim Whitman now, if you'd like).
And for those dolts who keep on insisting that “This
is a Christian nation,” Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were
non-denominational Deists, who both excoriated the “so-called Christians” of
that day. Jefferson published a version of the Bible (still around today; http://www.amazon.com/Jefferson-Bible-Morals-…/…/ref=sr_1_1…),
titled "The Jefferson Bible: The Life and Morals of Jesus of
Nazareth," which included ONLY the words of Jesus and NONE of the
accounts of his miracles, etc.
Jefferson called modern-day Christians, “Paulists,”
and it was very clear that he held them and their strictures in very low
regard.
In a correspondence with Ezra Stiles, the Calvinist
President of Yale College, Benjamin Franklin wrote, "Here is my Creed, I believe
in one God, Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by His Providence. That
he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable Service we render to him,
is doing Good to his other Children. That the Soul of Man is immortal, and will
be treated with Justice in another Life respecting its Conduct in this ... As
for Jesus of Nazareth ... I think the system of Morals and Religion as he left
them to us, the best the World ever saw ... but I have ... some Doubts to his
Divinity; though' it is a Question I do not dogmatism upon, having never
studied it, and think it is needless to busy myself with it now, where I expect
soon an Opportunity of knowing the Truth with less Trouble." (http://www.portal.state.pa.us/…/benjamin_franklin_a…/1014592)
NOT exactly fundamentalist Christianity, right?
So, anyway, like I said, I don’t much get and
definitely DON’T agree with much of this fundamentalist religious fervor going
around today, but then again, maybe it’s because I went to College and read a
bunch of books and never had sex with my sister and all...but that’s just me.
.
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ADDENDUM: The argument in favor of such laws is that, "All they do is give religious people a guaranteed hearing in which the government must provide an over-arching reason why it is violating those individual's religious principles.”
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ADDENDUM: The argument in favor of such laws is that, "All they do is give religious people a guaranteed hearing in which the government must provide an over-arching reason why it is violating those individual's religious principles.”
There are a number of articles like this one (http://thefederalist.com/…/meet-10-americans-helped-by-rel…/),
giving examples like the ACLU supporting such RFRAs in cases like that of
Adriel Arocha, long-haired Native American kindergartener. In order to enter
kindergarten in the Needville, Texas, schools, Adriel Arocha, the son of Kenney
Arocha and Michelle Bettenbaugh, was told he’d have to cut his hair. The school
had general grooming policies, including that “[b]oys’ hair shall not cover any
part of the ear or touch the top of the standard collar in back.” The policy’s
stated design is “to teach hygiene, instill discipline, prevent disruption,
avoid safety hazards, and assert authority.”
