On Thursday, Gov. Pence of Indiana signed SB 101: the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" into law. This law goes into effect in July. According to those who support the law, the RFRA does not differ from the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Those people would be wrong.
If you read the Indiana law, it is glaringly apparent that it's not just a human person that can claim religious protection, but businesses as people can claim the same thing. Thank you, Citizens United.
We have already seen, at the national level, what happens when a "person" called Hobby Lobby, decides they "need" to weigh in on their female employee's health choices--i.e., need to tell those women what birth control they can and cannot use (because Dr. Hobby Lobby knows far more than your personal physician). You only need to look at the photo above to know who's going to be using that argument against women here in the state of Indiana.
I wrote the following as a Letter to the Editor--there is just so much to fear from this law:
"Your new freedom still brings questions for rest of us
Now that Senate Bill 101 has passed and religious "freedom" has been "restored," I have a few questions.
One: Where do I get my ID card? Or will I be issued an identifying patch? Should my friends and family — my supporters — get one, too? How far will this religious judgment extend? And, should a woman go to her doctor first, to verify her fertility status and choice of contraception, or will you actually take her word for it?
And what happens next? When you are only serving those customers you approve of, will that mean you have "won"? Judging by the comments attached to recent articles, you haven't won many converts by your new-found "freedom."
Will the state of Indiana, with your added layers of discrimination, be a better place? Will you have improved the lot of humankind by your actions, by your judgment? When the divisions in this state are insurmountable, when we are no longer providing good examples for our children because we have taught them to judge first, before getting to know the person, I will remember to ask you again if you've "won."
Jesus spoke of an important rule during his Sermon on the Mount. It's called the Golden Rule. I guess it doesn't have the same pizzazz as the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act." But it's a rule we all could live with. In peace. No signage or badges needed."
Women might not be denied service here in Indiana, thanks to this new law, but they WILL be denied the basic right to protect their own health as employees of business "people" who most certainly will raise religious objections to methods of birth control. There most certainly will be women who have high-risk pregnancies because their employer has demanded they use something other than the most effective birth control suggested by their doctor.
The other group that will feel the impact of the RFRA will be the LGBT community. For while it's not cool to discriminate on the basis of skin color these days, it's definitely OK to deny service to someone who looks like someone who might possibly love a person of the same sex. It's definitely OK to throw someone out of your place of business because they "don't look right" i.e., they look like they might be trying to be a gender that you don't think they actually are. Keep in mind, these judgmental "calls" happen on the basis of visual "cues", not because the person is actually known to the business, but because of how they are perceived.
This--THIS--is the real gist of my objection to RFRA--that it is completely judgmental, and will hasten our demise as a civilized society. Do you think I'm being a little "over the top"?! How about you travel with me to Northern Ireland, and as we puzzle over who is Catholic and who is Protestant, and why they hate each other so, any citizen there will tell you, "Of course I know who's who. I can tell by the way they look." I've said it before, and I will say it again--the rapists, murderers, and child molesters--people who REALLY deserve to be shunned--will get a pass, because they are those fine, upstanding-looking white men. LOOKING.
Finally, there will come the day when a conservative "Christian" will deny service to a Muslim person, or a Jewish family. We all know that will happen; because those in power will tell you how discriminated against they are, when they've actually never once been discriminated against, and will feel the need to demonstrate this power by throwing out a person of another faith. The rest of us? We will continue to welcome everyone, because at one time or another, we've felt the sting of judgement. Or, we will continue to serve everyone because we really know what Jesus was doing and saying when he walked this earth.
Not all Christians are bad, not all LGBT people are going to Hell (at least not for the reason you think), not all Muslims are terrorists, women aren't less-than equal, and......I could go on. The reason this RFRA is bad for the real people of Indiana is that it will make it harder for us to really relate to one another; it will be harder for us to see another real human as a real being. Instead, first looks will determine who gets served, and those of us who know what that's like will avoid certain places, will feel like we have to bow our heads in shame when there is absolutely nothing we need to be shamed of. And, you can only imagine the anger and hatred that will bubble up from some of us because of the RFRA. Not love. Anger. Not caring. Hatred.
Worst of all, our children will learn this behavior; will know that to be different is bad, and will hightail it out of this state as quickly as possible. Which will be sad, because we need those people, whatever their differences are. We NEED diversity.
The RFRA will have a real negative impact on the state of Indiana; human relations will suffer. We are now seeing the fiscal impact of this law, as companies and other entities begin to withdraw their money, employees, and business from the state. While I am glad to know they are coming out against a discriminatory law, I worry about this loss of revenue. I work in a place that depends on tax dollars--how will this impact my job? How will the RFRA impact funding for education, for cities and towns? I can only hope our legislators realize the huge mistake they've made, and rectify it quickly, before Indiana falls further down the state-by-state list of quality of life.
There are so many negatives about the passage of this law. Are there any positives? Keep reading.
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