Senator Tries To Sneak In ‘More Palatable’ Religious Freedom Law — Uses The Art Of Surprise

I have a strongly held belief that one of the following two statements represents one of my core religious beliefs 1) That it is just a great idea to strap on a suicide vest to kill innocent women and children to prove how devout I am  or 2) When I hear a Stupidparty leader or disciple drone on about “freedoms” I usually conclude that we are witnessing the end of their intellectual horizon. I will now let our guest writer explore in more detail what is happening, what games are being played, that might allow me to conclude that I can do anything I want in the name of religion- If Jesus is my man, I do not even have to bother about what Jesus might actually have stood for -I can go rogue, I can be the anti Christ (Ted Cruz)—it makes no difference.

You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out God hates all the same people you do. – Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

Patrick Andendall

~Matthew 7:1

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A forum assembled at the National Center for Civil & Human Rights, including officials with Georgia Equality, who released a report on how religion has been historically used to discriminate against African Americans and to support slavery, keep women in their ‘God-given roles,’ resist accommodating people with disabilities, to mistreat Native Americans, Chinese, Japanese, interracial relationships and mixing, and pretty much anybody who isn’t a self-labelled Christian white male in the United States. The report clearly shows how laws similar to today’s mess of “religious freedom” laws have been a reoccurring phenomenon designed to allow discrimination to remain firmly in place. I highly recommend reading the full report.

As this forum of equality-minded individuals assembled, an assembly of Republican lawmakers had their own seemingly impromptu meeting, giving little notice that they would be having a hearing regarding  Senate Bill 284. This bill was named the “First Amendment Defense Act of Georgia” and sponsored by Senator Greg Kirk -Republican -but of course.

The meeting was then adjourned quickly after it began, leaving little chance of debate from those who would most assuredly have disputed the latest “Religious Freedom Law” -another sad attempt by the Republicans to cling to bigotry in the disguise of religious piety. How telling that many of the people who would certainly have protested this thinly veiled vehicle to remain deep in Bible Belt BS were convening elsewhere. As Church Lady would no doubt say, “How convenient!”

Senator Kirk called the Bill “more palatable” for businesses, but the words reveal otherwise.

The Bill can be examined here, though I forewarn you that it did induce nausea when I skimmed over it. Basically, it would make discrimination against LGBT people acceptable under the guise of religion. Something that we all know Jesus would have fully endorsed-NOT! It is nothing more than a feeble and transparent backlash against the Civil Rights that LGBT people have gained since the Supreme Court made its ruling on same-sex marriage. It is a slippery and totally sneaky way for conservatives to maintain their view that they are entitled to be jerks to people. Meanwhile,  themajority of American society believe that LGBT people should not face discrimination in jobs, public accommodations, and housing. It is a stark contrast to the trickery of a few backwards Republicans, who feel it is their role to maintain their privilege and to keep minorities and women down.

Maybe Senator Kirk had gotten the idea for the shady meeting from last year’s similar occurrence in Georgia when Senator Josh McKoon (Another Republican of course) had managed to intsa-approveanother similar Religious BS law: S.B. 129. Most conveniently, the Democrats on the panel were all absent from the meeting! Senator Vincent Mark Steven Kirk is an American politician and was a junior United States senator from Illinois from 2010 to 2017. He is also a member of the Republican party. He was born on 15th September 1959 in Champaign, Illinois. he served United Navy Reserve as Direct Commission officer. To more about him click  following link

If these Senators truly believed that what they were doing was based on rational thought, would they have deemed it necessary to hold sketchy meetings where they could slide these “freedom” laws by without the scrutiny of their peers? The answer is a resounding “NO!” These laws are nothing to do with religious freedom and everything to do with a flagrant attempt to justify being uncomfortable and mean to LGBT people. Their unscrupulous behavior is that of adolescent bullies seeking to protect themselves from the consequences of their own willful ignorance.

We can certainly expect to see more of these dirty dealings in the future. As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said concerning the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby case, in which the SCOTUS found that a corporation can restrict healthcare to their female employees based on religious ideas:

“Approving some religious claims while deeming others unworthy of accommodation could be ‘perceived as favoring one religion over another,’ the very ‘risk the [Constitution’s] Establishment Clause was designed to preclude.”

“The court, I fear, has ventured into a minefield.”

That minefield is growing ever larger and is likely to continue well into the future.

See a map of states who currently have the ill-named “Religious-Freedom Laws” in place to get a look at the scope of the problem.