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What Do These ‘Controversial Religious Freedom’ Bills Actually Say?

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Category:  Religion & Ethics

Via:  xxjefferson51  •  10 years ago  •  2 comments

What Do These ‘Controversial Religious Freedom’ Bills Actually Say?

Another state is debating what the headlines frequently call controversial religious freedom legislation.

You might wonder when religious freedom became controversial. Welcome to Barack Obamas America....

Except the text of the bill in question contains no references to homosexuality, gay people or same-sex marriage. Neither does the bill currently under discussion in Indiana.

In fact, these bills are substantially modeled on the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 , which did not lead to the widespread denial of service to gay customers, was passed by a Democratic-controlled Congress and signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton and was boosted primarily by Chuck Schumer and Ted Kennedy.

Why did they enact this law? Because during the 1980s, two Oregon drug counselors were fired from their jobs for the sacramental use of peyote and denied unemployment benefits by the state. They argued their religious liberty was violated. The Supreme Court, in a 1990 opinion written by Antonin Scalia, disagreed.

So all the fuss about religious zealots imposing their theology on gays and other unwilling third parties actually originated in a controversy where Ted Kennedy sided against Antonin Scalia.

All the Religious Freedom Restoration Act said was that if a generally applicable federal law imposed a substantial burden on someones free exercise of religion, judges would have to decide whether that burden served a compelling government interest and used the least restrictive means possible.

Thats essentially all these state bills require too. Yet in Indiana, protestors chanted, Reject RFRA! Reject RFRA! http://dailycaller.com/2015/03/17/what-do-these-controversial-religious-freedom-bills-actually-say/


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XXJefferson51
Senior Guide
link   seeder  XXJefferson51    10 years ago

What changed? For more than twenty years, the federal RFRA wasnt terribly controversial and the critics it did have were as likely to be conservative as liberal.

But the law was cited in the case against the Obamacare contraceptive mandate. Even if there is a compelling government interest in expanding access to contraception, it can hardly be argued that forcing Hobby Lobby or the Little Sisters of the Poor to pay for it was the least restrictive means of furthering that interest.

Then there were florists, bakers and photographers who were punished by various state government entities for refusing to service same-sex weddings on religious grounds. The Supreme Court had ruled that the national RFRA only applied to the federal government, not the states. So the law was no remedy for the grandmother at risk of losing her home and life savings when she wouldnt make floral arrangements for such a ceremony.

Consequently, social conservatives began pushing for state-level RFRAs. That is the entire basis for the contention that these are anti-gay laws. But at most, they would give the florist, the photographer and the baker a claim in court. There would be no guarantee theyd win.

 
 
 
XXJefferson51
Senior Guide
link   seeder  XXJefferson51    10 years ago

liberals have changed their views on religious freedom now that the law is being used to protect conservative Christians rather than peyote users.

And for all their talk of a new gay Jim Crow , deep down liberals know that in a competitive market theres no plausible way to argue that taking grandmas life savings is the least restrictive means of ensuring gay couples can access floral arrangements for their ceremonies.

Yet the Indianapolis Star reports many who opposed the same-sex marriage ban last year re-united to oppose this years religious freedom legislation.

Maybe next theyll picket Ted Kennedys grave.

 
 
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