According to a 2014 poll conducted by The Washington Post and ABC News, 50 percent of Americans say that the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection gives gays the right to marry – outside of the constitutional question, 59 percent say they support same-sex marriage. With all this support and acceptance, why is it that some feel it is okay to discriminate against a group of people based on religious freedom?
Indiana Senate Bill 101, titled the Religions Freedom Restoration Act, is a law in the U.S. state of Indiana, which allows individuals and companies to assert that their exercise of religion has been, or is likely to be, substantially burdened as a defense in legal proceedings. This allows businesses to refuse potential customers based on their religious beliefs. Personally, I believe that an individuals right to practice religion should not impede on that individuals choice to service the public. That individual made a decision to be a business owner not a preacher, minister or pastor. Their religious beliefs should not give them a right to discriminate against anyone.
This type of legislation is dangerous and is reminiscent of the days before the civil rights movement when people of colour couldn’t use the same rest rooms as white people. Whose to say that the discrimination will end with gays and lesbians? What if someone is uncomfortable doing business with someone who belongs to another religion? Legislation like this protects individuals who have a certain belief system and there are so many people who don’t fit into that category. Do atheist business owners deny business to those who belong to individuals that prescribe to religious ideologies? Do Catholic business owners serve only Catholics?
By signing this bill into law, Governor Mike Pence, has created something I believe to be good. Firstly, he has opened the eyes of many that discrimination is alive and well in the United States of America. It’s quite unsettling that those who believe their religious freedoms are being threatened are exercising their God-given right to fundamentally go against the basic teachings of Jesus Christ or God. Doesn’t that seem hypocritical to you? Secondly, this legislation is creating dialogue. People are talking about this and bringing to light the simple notion that religion is a choice and should not determine legislation. Ask yourself – who really is the victim, the business or the people who have gone to that specific business to buy their service or product only to be denied that service or product?
I was brought up in a Catholic household. My parents then decided to ‘test drive’ a new religious ideology by practicing the Jehovah’s Witness religion – which my siblings and I had to go along with. My high school was composed of mostly kids from a Jewish faith. So what did I learn from religion? Confusion, anger, depression, fear, anxiety, hypocrisy and hate. I learned that most religions don’t accept you if you are born gay. You are not as appreciated if you are a woman. Slavery is okay. Killing is okay. I learned that there is much more violence and separation of people in religion than there is love.
For me, religious freedom legislation isn’t something that brings people together. It creates more negativity and divides people. Religious freedom legislation doesn’t serve the benefits of all, it only serves the benefits of a few and that does not create positive change in our world.
COALITION OF POSITIVE ENERGY 