1. Freedom

Category Archives: Freedom

Indiana, Arkansas, and other 'religious freedom' laws: Trouble for the GOP (+video)

Posted on by

The governors of Indiana and Arkansas Republicans Mike Pence and Asa Hutchinson likely are spending Easter weekend wondering what they might have done to avert the adverse political wave that rolled them over this past week.

It was worse for Indianas Gov. Pence, who had to backtrack on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act hed just signed, calling on state legislators to clarify the law so that it no longer so obviously allowed for discrimination of gays and lesbians.

Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson, learning from Pences experience, quickly said hed veto that states RFRA bill unless lawmakers wrote in that same clarification. That his own son had signed a petition against the bill no doubt got his attention.

"The issue has become divisive because our nation remains split on how to balance the diversity of our culture with the traditions and firmly held religious convictions," Hutchison said at a press conference. "It has divided families, and there is clearly a generational gap on this issue. My son Seth signed the petition asking me, Dad, the governor, to veto this bill."

That generational gap was a clear point former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made Friday in a Washington Post op-ed column excoriating his own Republican Party on the issue.

"As an American, Im incredibly concerned aboutwhat happened in Indiana this weekand thethreat of similar lawsbeing passed in other states, Mr. Schwarzenegger wrote. As a Republican, Im furious.

I know plenty of Republicans who are sensible and driven to solve problems for America. They believe in Reagans vision of a big tent where everyone is welcome. This message isnt for them, he wrote. It is for Republicans who choose the politics of division over policies that improve the lives of all of us. It is for Republicans who have decided to neglect the next generation of voters. It is for Republicans who are fighting for laws that fly in the face of equality and freedom.

"There are so many real problems that need solving. But distracting, divisive laws like the one Indiana initially passed arent just bad for the country, theyre also bad for our party, Schwarzenegger continued.In California, the GOP has seen the danger of focusing on the wrong issues. In 2007, Republicans made up nearly 35 percent of our registered voters. By 2009, ourshare droppedto 31 percent, andtoday, it is a measly 28 percent. That sharp drop started just after the divisive battle over Proposition 8 [which banned same-sex marriage]. Maybe thats a coincidence, but there is no question that our party is losing touch with our voters, especially with the younger ones who are growing the registration rolls.

(In 2013, the United States Supreme Court effectively killed Prop. 8.)

The struggle to balance religious freedoms with civil and personal rights continues in other states, where local and national businesses have become major players.

Continued here:

Indiana, Arkansas, and other 'religious freedom' laws: Trouble for the GOP (+video)

Firestorm Prompts Fix in Indiana’s Religious Freedom Bill41:00 | news – Video

Posted on by


Firestorm Prompts Fix in Indiana #39;s Religious Freedom Bill41:00 | news
Firestorm Prompts Fix in Indiana #39;s Religious Freedom Bill41:00 Please follow me.Rebecca Jarvis goes one-on-one with Vensette CEO Lauren Remington Platt. Breaking news, latest news, current...

By: news

Read the original:

Firestorm Prompts Fix in Indiana's Religious Freedom Bill41:00 | news - Video

Nick Offerman Reveals How Leslie Knope Would Have Reacted to Indiana’s Freedom of Religion Act – Video

Posted on by


Nick Offerman Reveals How Leslie Knope Would Have Reacted to Indiana #39;s Freedom of Religion Act
There were two initial reactions when Indiana first passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The first one was obviously utter disgust. And the second? Someone sic Leslie Knope on them!...

By: wochit Entertainment

More here:

Nick Offerman Reveals How Leslie Knope Would Have Reacted to Indiana's Freedom of Religion Act - Video

Discrimination: A God-given Right; Religious Freedom in Indiana & Arkansas – Video

Posted on by


Discrimination: A God-given Right; Religious Freedom in Indiana Arkansas
Liberals have attacked the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) in both Indiana and Arkansas as endorsing discrimination against LGBT people. This bill was about freedomnot about same-sex ...

By: Jesse Lee Peterson

Continue reading here:

Discrimination: A God-given Right; Religious Freedom in Indiana & Arkansas - Video

After Indiana furor, proposed religious freedom law in Georgia dies

Posted on by

After 14 months of bitter wrangling, Georgias legislative session ended with lawmakers failing to pass a contentious religious freedom bill.

The defeat comes after a nationwide furor over similar legislation in Indiana and Arkansas. Opponents argued that the bill would provide a legal basis for discrimination against gays and lesbians. On Tuesday, demonstrators marched to the Capitol here, carrying signs reading, No discrimination in Georgia and We are not Indiana.

The proposed Religious Freedom Restoration Act would have forbid governments from infringing on a persons exercise of religion without compelling interest. It would have covered individuals and religious organizations, as well as companies with a small number of shareholders.

The bill was adopted by Georgia's Senate on March 5, then languished in the House. As gay rights activists rallied against the bill, a rift emerged in Georgia's GOP.

In the end, it was a Republican House member who scuppered the bill by adding language last week that would prevent it from being used as a defense for discrimination. The bills sponsors immediately tabled the proposal, and the legislative session ended Thursday.

In a telephone interview Friday, state Sen. Joshua McKoon vowed he would try to revive the bill next January. Weve got a handful of people made nervous by this smear campaign, he said. If we had had floor vote yesterday, Im confident it would have passed.

For Republican Gov. Nathan Deal, who had indicated he would support legislation that mirrored the 1993 federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the dispute over the bill had become too rancorous. On Thursday, he urged lawmakers who sought to revive the bill to stick to the language of the 1993 act and to include an anti-discrimination clause.

McKoon said he intended to hew to federal law and to resist adding what he described as unnecessary anti-discrimination language. Its a tempest in a teapot, he said. A handful of professional activists have done a fantastic job of misrepresenting what this legislation is about. If you want to get down to brass tacks: Are we going to see people denied medical treatment, or mistreated in any way? No. It's a firm no. Theres no gray area.

The federal religious freedom act applies only to the federal government, not to states and other local municipalities. Over the years, 21 states have passed their own versions of the law.

Opponents say this bill is going to allow people to discriminate in the name of religion, McKoon said. If thats the case, can you point to a single case when the statute was used to discriminate against someone?

See the rest here:

After Indiana furor, proposed religious freedom law in Georgia dies

Indiana, Arkansas, and other 'religious freedom' laws: Trouble for the GOP

Posted on by

The governors of Indiana and Arkansas Republicans Mike Pence and Asa Hutchinson likely are spending Easter weekend wondering what they might have done to avert the adverse political wave that rolled them over this past week.

It was worse for Indianas Gov. Pence, who had to backtrack on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act hed just signed, calling on state legislators to clarify the law so that it no longer so obviously allowed for discrimination of gays and lesbians.

Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson, learning from Pences experience, quickly said hed veto that states RFRA bill unless lawmakers wrote in that same clarification. That his own son had signed a petition against the bill no doubt got his attention.

"The issue has become divisive because our nation remains split on how to balance the diversity of our culture with the traditions and firmly held religious convictions," Hutchison said at a press conference. "It has divided families, and there is clearly a generational gap on this issue. My son Seth signed the petition asking me, Dad, the governor, to veto this bill."

That generational gap was a clear point former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made Friday in a Washington Post op-ed column excoriating his own Republican Party on the issue.

"As an American, Im incredibly concerned aboutwhat happened in Indiana this weekand thethreat of similar lawsbeing passed in other states, Mr. Schwarzenegger wrote. As a Republican, Im furious.

I know plenty of Republicans who are sensible and driven to solve problems for America. They believe in Reagans vision of a big tent where everyone is welcome. This message isnt for them, he wrote. It is for Republicans who choose the politics of division over policies that improve the lives of all of us. It is for Republicans who have decided to neglect the next generation of voters. It is for Republicans who are fighting for laws that fly in the face of equality and freedom.

"There are so many real problems that need solving. But distracting, divisive laws like the one Indiana initially passed arent just bad for the country, theyre also bad for our party, Schwarzenegger continued.In California, the GOP has seen the danger of focusing on the wrong issues. In 2007, Republicans made up nearly 35 percent of our registered voters. By 2009, ourshare droppedto 31 percent, andtoday, it is a measly 28 percent. That sharp drop started just after the divisive battle over Proposition 8 [which banned same-sex marriage]. Maybe thats a coincidence, but there is no question that our party is losing touch with our voters, especially with the younger ones who are growing the registration rolls.

(In 2013, the United States Supreme Court effectively killed Prop. 8.)

The struggle to balance religious freedoms with civil and personal rights continues in other states, where local and national businesses have become major players.

See original here:

Indiana, Arkansas, and other 'religious freedom' laws: Trouble for the GOP

Backlash against religious freedom laws helps gay rights in Indiana, Arkansas

Posted on by

What began 20 years ago as a bipartisan drive to protect the rights of people to follow their faith against an overbearing government erupted this week into a divisive dispute over gay rights and religious freedom.

And the fracture can be traced back to two recent moves by the Supreme Court that set up an unusual legal crosscurrent between liberals and conservatives.

By overturning a key provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act in 2013, the court set in motion a string of rulings across the nation that voided state laws banning same-sex marriage. By this June, a majority of justices is widely expected to legalize gay marriage nationwide.

At the same time, the Supreme Court ruled in another case last year that the family owners of the Hobby Lobby craft-store chain had a religious-liberty right to refuse to offer contraception coverage for its employees.

So while the marriage ruling opened the door for expanded protections for gays and lesbians, the Hobby Lobby decision offered new tools for those opposed to such moves.

Conservatives applauded the 5-4 Hobby Lobby ruling, which was based on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act signed by President Clinton in 1993. The law originally aimed to protect the Amish, Native Americans and others whose religious practices ran afoul of local or state laws says the "government shall not substantially burden a person's exercise of religion."

But the court's conservative majority defined "person" to include profit-making companies. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, speaking for the liberal dissenters, called it a "decision of startling breadth" that gives "commercial enterprises, including corporations" a right to ignore laws that conflict with their owners' religious views.

Armed with the Hobby Lobby ruling and concerned that their statewide bans against same-sex marriage were in danger, conservative lawmakers in Indiana, Arkansas and other states adopted their own versions of the federal religious-freedom law.

Some conservatives hoped the 1993 law would protect religious-minded individuals and businesses from legal mandates on gay marriage that they said would violate their faith. The most commonly cited example was a religious baker who did not want to be forced to make a cake for a gay wedding.

Using the Hobby Lobby precedent, some states broadened the scope of the federal religious-liberty law which dealt with conflicts between the government and individuals and defined a protected person to include a business, company or corporation. That small change created a large concern.

Read the original post:

Backlash against religious freedom laws helps gay rights in Indiana, Arkansas


  1. Freedom