You have probably heard plenty about Arizona’s Legislative Bill called SB 1062. It has been given a ton of national publicity and has been called a gay discrimination bill… which is totally false.
It was put together by Republicans and Democrats, passed by the House and Senate as a “Freedom of religion bill.”
Let’s say you own a bakery and two marrying homosexuals wanted you to make their wedding cake and you had religious convictions that prohibited being involved in any manner with that particular lifestyle. This bill (SB1062) would allow you to exercise YOUR religious rights and choose to “Not” violate your convictions. Apologize and mention another bakery that wouldn’t mind doing it for them.
It was actually based Federal law… remember this? “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
In 1990, Congress passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which instructed courts to apply strict scrutiny when government substantially burdens a person’s exercise of religion and even had stipulations in it to assure there was not out and out discrimination:
stipulated that a person that asserts a violation of this Act must establish the following: The person’s action or refusal to act is motivated by a religious belief. The person’s religious belief is sincerely held; and the state action substantially burdens and the exercise of the person’s religious beliefs.
You couldn’t just refuse any service to a gay or lesbian and say it was for religious reasons… you better be able to back it up or get a lawsuit and loose.
However, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and the well-organized gay organizations promised a great financial loss to Arizona if the bill was passed… the politicians caved in… a loss for your religious freedom.
I am not homophobic, but if I were a Christian minister that didn’t want to perform a marriage to a gay couple… I dang well shouldn’t have to if it were against my beliefs. Now isn’t that what religious freedom is about?
Where are we going when our politicians and government let a minority sell out our constitutional rights because of some financial threats about losing a convention or some tourist dollars?