Guess what, people.  You get to practice your religion up to the point where you infringe on someone else’s life.  That’s it.  That’s the cut off.  That is as far as you can push your religion.  (In fact, that is as far as you can push anything you want to do.)  That’s all “religious liberty” means.  Because if you can force your religion onto someone else, then they don’t get to take part in this “Freeedom of Religion” the Framers thought so important that they put it into the very First Amendment.

Guess what else, people.  “Religious liberty” is not under assault.  Not in any way shape or form.  What is “under assault” — a horribly inaccurate term if there ever was one — is the privilege Christians have had until recently to force their religion on other people.  It really is as simple as that, and I dare someone to prove otherwise.

So Indiana’s governor Mike Pence signed into law his state’s own version of the highly unnecessary Restoration of Religious Freedom Act.  There were many businesses and corporations that bring multiple millions of dollars or revenue into the state telling him it was a bad idea.  More than one told him that they would leave the state, taking their business and tax dollars with them.  None of that deterred him, unlike in Arizona, where the equally far right Jan Brewer tried the same thing, but realized the businesses who were complaining are where she gets most of the money for her election campaigns and so vetoed the bill.

Mike Pence, in a statement, not actually speaking to the press:

“Today I signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, because I support the freedom of religion for every Hoosier of every faith,” Pence said in a statement Thursday. “The Constitution of the United States and the Indiana Constitution both provide strong recognition of the freedom of religion but today, many people of faith feel their religious liberty is under attack by government action.”

“People of faith feel their religious liberty is under attack”. (Emphasis mine)

So… can you explain what this means?  What exactly has been done to attack the religious liberty of these people of faith?  And why do their feelings matter more than the facts of the situation?  Because the facts are that they have no fewer liberties, religious or otherwise, than anyone else in this country.

I would really like to know exactly how these so called “religious liberties” are under attack.  No one will give a detailed answer with supporting evidence.  BECAUSE THEY CAN’T!

In Indiana, if I owned a business there, I could now refuse service or to hire blacks because they are less than human.  I could now refuse service or to hire women because they should be in the home under a man’s control rather than running free.  And LGBTQ?  They are abominations who shouldn’t exist, so I am fully justified in treating them as such.

Without a reason for this law to actually exist, this guy decided to sign it.  Without any indication that any religion was actually being infringed upon, this guy thinks that religious liberty is under attack.

And here’s the kicker, as pointed out by someone I know on Facebook:

The bill received national attention, but Pence signed it with little fanfare in a ceremony closed to the public and the press. The Indianapolis Star reported that members of the media “were asked to leave even the waiting area of the governor’s office.”

Closed to the public and press?  You are so convinced this bill needs to be a law, but you feel the need to hide your actions from everyone else?  If you are that ashamed of your beliefs, maybe you should be rethinking your life choices.  Coward.

Tagged: cowards, Indiana, Mike Pence, religion, Religious Freedom, religious liberty, RFR