Just got a note that a "Religious Freedom" law is coming back in front of the Georgia General Assembly.
These are bad, dumb laws. Here's why:
These laws purport to be about religious freedom. Who doesn't like religious freedom? You get the idea that there's some little ol' lover of Jesus (or Muhammed, peace be upon him) out there who's being denied the ability to worship in the way they want. How un-American! Let's protect religious freedom!
Not true. People can worship freely already. These new "RFRA" laws are really about asking state legislatures to grant permission to businesses to legally discriminate. Christian business owners are pushing RFRA laws because they want permission to refuse to pay for their employees' reproductive healthcare services, contraception, and HIV care, or otherwise deny their obligation to serve customers whose values don't "align" with their religion.
Where to begin with this foolishness? First of all, can a business be "Christian?" Does a "Christian business" have "religious rights?" Businesses are not people (I can't believe I have to write that). Businesses are legal entities created/authorized by the state--they don't have intrinsic rights. I'm no constitutional law specialist, but it seems pretty clear to me that individual religious freedom and this imagined "religious freedom" of businesses are two very different things--one is real, one is a sham.
Back in the 50s and 60s, racist business owners made the same case: we shouldn't have to serve Blacks because it violates our principles. Our court system said, "tough. Suck it up." If you open a business, you're able to open it (ie, you have street access, mail services, utilities, police protection) because your business serves a public interest. You have to serve the whole public. You don't get to decide who you serve and who you refuse service to (look up "Heart of Atlanta Motel"). The same thing should be true with healthcare. As long as we are stuck with this ridiculous private insurance healthcare system, why should your employer get to decide which health services you have access to? They shouldn't.
Even IF we granted that businesses could be "religious" and had "rights" (which they don't), why would a religious business discriminate? Christians are called to love and serve others, even (especially?) our enemies. The religious response would be to smother them with love and kindness, right?
In Georgia, the profound hypocrisy of this law is that we are one of 3 states left without anti-discrimination statutes that protect LGBTQ citizens from discrimination. That's right--it's ALREADY legal to discriminate against queer folk in Georgia. THAT is the law that needs to change. That's a change that would actually, unironically, be "Christian."
Want to fight RFRA and work for anti-discrimination laws? Give a few bucks to Georgia Equality!
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