We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. The LGBT community could gain credibility if they pressed their “civil rights” on the Religion of Peace.
Via Indy Star
A battle is shaping up in the Indiana legislature over a proposal that supporters say will protect people with strong religious beliefs, but that opponents say would legalize discrimination against gays and others.
The legislation has been widely expected ever since a federal judge struck down Indiana’s same-sex marriage ban in June. That ruling, which the U.S. Supreme Court later let stand, caused angst among social conservatives who feared business owners who oppose gay marriage for religious reasons might be forced to provide services for same-sex weddings.
The bill’s author, Sen. Scott Schneider, R-Indianapolis, said Friday that he intends to shore up gaps in Indiana’s “religious liberty framework.”
“The focus has been on same-sex marriage because that’s the hot topic right now, but it goes far beyond that,” he said. “It’s important to have some religious freedom and protection.”[…]
The bill is modeled after the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, which was passed under President Bill Clinton to protect religious minorities. It played a key role in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Hobby Lobby case in June. Justices ruled that the arts-and-craft chain store and other closely held corporations can hold religious objections that allowed them to opt out of an Affordable Care Act requirement that they cover contraceptives for women.
The federal law, however, does not apply to state and local governments.
Now, amid a spate of recent federal court decisions legalizing gay marriage, religious conservatives are lobbying for similar religious freedom legislation at statehouses across the country. At least 19 states have passed some form of the law, and proposals have recently been introduced in several additional states, including Michigan and Georgia.
State Rep. Ed DeLaney, D-Indianapolis, said the Indiana bill will create a problem where there isn’t one and will just distract legislators from focusing on important topics, such as schools and wages.