Tag: Religious Freedom Restoration Act

April 24, 2015

If Right-Wing Christianity Is On The Decline, Why Am I Not Seeing It In My State House?

crowd Protesting Indiana's bad religious freedom bill
Crowd protesting Indiana’s bad religious freedom bill March 2015

We are on the cusp of probably seeing same-sex marriage bans joining school mandated prayer in the dust bin of history. The road from DC is looking like an end to religious privilege. The war has instead moved to the state houses around the country where the right-wing is doing all it can to deny basic human dignity and worth by forcing Christianity on the residents of their states.


In a Salon article, Evan McMurry, from AlterNet, detailed at least four areas the right-wing religious conservatives are flexing what muscles they have left:

Read the postIf Right-Wing Christianity Is On The Decline, Why Am I Not Seeing It In My State House?
April 3, 2015

The Majority Doesn’t Need Their Religious Freedom Restored

screencap from Holy Grail

Indiana and Arkansas have changed their state Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRA) to make it more explicit that it not be used by businesses to discriminate against LGBTs or others of different beliefs. RFRAs were originally created to protect minority religious beliefs from government overreach, like peyote use by Native Americans, and not to allow the majority religions to selectively honor the civil rights of others.

Josh Marshall over at Talkingpointsmemo.com had a great essay on the how RFRAs were perverted by the religious majority:

Read the postThe Majority Doesn’t Need Their Religious Freedom Restored
March 29, 2015

Why Do Religious Freedom Restoration Acts Open The Door To Discrimination?

photo of Indiana Governor Mike Pence
Indiana Governor Mike Pence trying to put lipstick on a pig

In a previous post, I used the title ‘Indiana Ends Fair And Equal Treatment‘ in response to Governor Pence signing a Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law. RFRA’s have opened the door to discrimination since the federal version was used in the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Supreme Court decision back in June.

After my post went up I had a person on twitter try to claim that since the United States Supreme Court had ruled the federal RFRA constitutional and Indiana’s version is an exact copy of the federal version then there is no end to fair and equal treatment. That claim isn’t supported by the facts.

Read the postWhy Do Religious Freedom Restoration Acts Open The Door To Discrimination?
March 27, 2015

Indiana Ends Fair And Equal Treatment

I was going to write a long winded post about the ‘Religious Freedom’ law signed by Indiana’s Governor Mike Pence today but I decided Brandan Robertson, on his blog Revangelical, made the kind of point I would be making. Basically, laws like Indiana’s ‘Religious Freedom’ law makes a mockery out of ideals of fair and equal treatment that evolved from the civil rights struggle.

Here is an official photo of the private signing ceremony. Governor Pence is seated at the desk. We know Catholics are well represented but where are the atheists and Muslims?

Read the postIndiana Ends Fair And Equal Treatment
July 4, 2014

Hobby Lobby Decision Created Special Religious Rights

clipart showing a scale

Not only did the recent Burwell v. Hobby Lobby US Supreme Court Decision give corporations religious rights that only individuals had under the 1st amendment, but the decision confirmed the religious have extra-consitutional rights. It’s all because of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act that was passed in 1993.

Dave Niose, from the American Humanist Association, explains:

Read the postHobby Lobby Decision Created Special Religious Rights
March 24, 2014

If Hobby Lobby Wins, Corporations Will Be Able To Tell Your Doctor What To Say

image of a Hobby Lobby storefront

The Hobby Lobby religious exemption to covering contraception case will be heard in the US Supreme Court starting on Tuesday. If corporations are given a right to religious freedom there is no telling how bad this will be for people. One bad result, that hasn’t been reported on by the media, is that both plaintiffs want to prevent Doctors from even talking about contraceptives to their employees. These corporations want to get between you and your doctor.

Read the postIf Hobby Lobby Wins, Corporations Will Be Able To Tell Your Doctor What To Say