“Indiana Gov. Mike Pence vigorously defended the state religious objections bill that he signed into law Thursday as businesses and organizations including the NCAA pressed concerns that it could open the door to legalizing discrimination against gay people,” Tom Davies reports for The Associated Press. “The state became the first to enact such a change this year among about a dozen where such proposals have been introduced. Arkansas’ governor said Thursday he supported a similar bill that’s advancing in that state’s Legislature.”
“Pence, a Republican mulling a possible 2016 presidential campaign, signed the bill privately in his office with at least a couple dozen supporters on hand. He later met with reporters and refuted arguments from opponents that law would threaten civil rights laws by saying that hasn’t happened under the federal religious freedom law Congress passed in 1993 and similar laws in 19 other states,” Davies reports. “‘There has been a lot of misunderstanding about this bill,’ Pence said. ‘This bill is not about discrimination, and if I thought it legalized discrimination in any way I would’ve vetoed it.'”
“Soon after Pence signed the bill, Salesforce.com founder and CEO Marc Benioff announced on Twitter that he was canceling all programs that require its customers or employees ‘to travel to Indiana to face discrimination,'” Davies reports. “Conservative groups backing the bill have said it merely seeks to prevent the government from compelling people to provide such things as catering or photography for same-sex weddings or other activities they find objectionable on religious grounds.”
“Indiana Right to Life President and CEO Mike Fichter praised the new law, saying it would give abortion opponents legal recourse if they are pressured to support the procedure. The organization circulated an online petition to thank Pence for signing the bill,” Davies reports. “Pence pointed out that President Barack Obama voted in favor of a similar state law while he was an Illinois legislator.”
Apple CEO Tim Cook, who identified himself as a homosexual in an October 2014 Businessweek op-ed, tweeted today:
Apple is open for everyone. We are deeply disappointed in Indiana's new law and calling on Arkansas Gov. to veto the similar #HB1228.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) March 27, 2015
Indiana Governor Mike Pence tweeted:
I signed SEA 101 today to ensure religious liberty is fully protected under IN law http://t.co/vCOASZBZnH pic.twitter.com/CMFJh6aLDx
— Governor Mike Pence (@GovPenceIN) March 26, 2015
Micah Clark of the American Family Association of Indiana tweeted:
SB 101 #RFRA is now law. Want to thank @GovPenceIN for standing firm for #ReligiousFreedom pic.twitter.com/Boioi4Jhxs
— AFA-IN (@AFAofIndiana) March 26, 2015
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Apple CEO Cook makes ‘substantial’ donation for gay rights activists in U.S. South – December 19, 2014
Alabama sexual orientation anti-discrimination bill to be named after Apple’s Tim Cook – December 4, 2014
Russian memorial to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs dismantled after CEO Tim Cook announces he’s gay – November 3, 2014
Apple investors don’t care that Tim Cook is gay – October 31, 2014\
Goldman Sachs CEO: Apple’s Tim Cook coming out as gay ‘will resonate powerfully’ – October 31, 2014
Human Rights Campaign: Tim Cook’s announcement that he is gay will save countless lives – October 30, 2014
Apple CEO Tim Cook: ‘I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me’ – October 30, 2014
Apple joins Gay Pride parade in Austin, Texas – September 21, 2014
Apple releases video highlighting employee participation in San Francisco’s LGBT Pride Parade – July 8, 2014
Tim Cook, Apple employees march in LGBT Pride Parade in San Francisco – June 30, 2014
Apple inviting employees to march in annual San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade – May 7, 2014
Why is the Angry Left so angry?
“Progressives” convince themselves that everything they’re doing is for the greater good, which supersedes the rights of any individual. It’s a case of “the humanitarian with the guillotine“: we’re doing this for the overall good of humanity, so it’s OK to start killing people. Or to be really, really mean to them in the comments field.
There’s the fact that advocacy of big government is by its very nature a quest for power and control, for the ability to use force against others—a cause that naturally attracts the bitter and intolerant.
There’s the fact that those of us on the right are accustomed to encountering a lot of ideological opposition. For most of our lives, the left has controlled the high ground of the culture, such as it is: the mainstream media, Hollywood, the universities, the arts. So we’re not used to crawling into a “safe space” and hiding from ideas we disagree with, which makes it easier for us to regard ideological opposition with a degree of equanimity.
But beneath all of these factors, there is something deeper, something more elemental. Something metaphysical… It’s all about immanentizing the eschaton.
For the secular leftist, the end state is social and necessarily political. It is all about getting everybody else on board and herding them into his imagined utopia. There are so many “problematic” aspects of life that need to be reengineered, so many vast social systems that need to be overthrown and replaced. But the rest of us are all screwing it up, all the time, through our greed, our denial, our apathy, our refusal to listen to him banging on about his tired socialist ideology.
For the Christian, the ideal end state is safely in the next world and therefore is never in doubt. For the individualist, it’s in his own life, and it’s mostly under his direct control. For the leftist, however, it is all outside his control. It requires other people, a lot of other people, and those SOBs usually refuse to cooperate. Talk about rage-inducing.
If the whole focus of your life is on getting everybody else to agree with you on every detail of your politics and adopt your plans for a perfect society, then you’re setting yourself up to be at war with most of the human race most of the time.
Which means an awful lot for the Angry Left to get angry about. — Robert Tracinski
Read more: Why is the Angry Left so angry?
Off to the beach house! Have a nice weekend everybody! And try not to be so angry, Dem/Lib/Progs! 🙂
OMG, you’re going to get downvoted to death by the Angry Left, that’s for sure. I’d love to see their red faces as they read what you posted. So true, so true, and they’ll be so unaccustomed to being confronted. They don’t get this on NPR, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, or from their “news” program hosted by Jon Stewart.
Two bigoted morons. You deserve each other.
If the whole focus of your life is on getting everybody else to agree with you on every detail of your politics and adopt your plans for a perfect society, then you’re setting yourself up to be at war with most of the human race most of the time. Which means an awful lot for the Angry Left to get angry about. — Robert Tracinski
Doesn’t sound any less moronic and hypocritical the second time of reading. Clearly this geezer doesn’t get irony.
Please don’t paint geezers with such a broad brush.
The only reason for the hyperbolic outrage coming from the business, entertainment and sports industries over this law is willful ignorance – and, yes, that includes Tim Cook.
For folks who take such pride in their professed love of diversity, Dem/Lib/Progs certainly do not seem to tolerate even the least bit of diversity that falls outside their own little pool of groupthink.
This “Two bigoted morons. You deserve each other.” is a typical response I see more and more from the far left. Rather than write an eloquent response, or a logical, thoughtful argument against First’s post, it is just name calling and emoting. And again, emoting and not thinking through the logical argument of individual freedom is coming forth in this decently long thread.
By and large, the left is open to any idea, so long as it aligns with their own. If not, opposing ideals and ideas be damned. It’s amazingly hypocritical, and isn’t an open thought process whatsoever.
If Auramac came back and gave a thoughtful argument on why religious beliefs should be eliminated, and should not be acted on or shared, and what would take their place and why, then great. Start that argument, I’d love to see it. Because what history shows us is it leads to Communism, Dictatorships, and mass killings, and of course, an elimination of liberty.
Wow! You learned to do cut and paste! Figure it out all by yourself or did you have help?
Another Angry Leftist. What a sad, miserable way to trudge through life.
Thanks for the laugh. Oh. I guess I’m supposed to be angry. Let’s see if I can make a frown. Dang! That’s hard to do!
Why does the Angry Right (should that be the Angry Wrong?) believe that it is a persecuted minority?
Why does the Angry Right appear to believe that the world population is divided into two sections, with the other section consisting of everyone else?
Why is the Angry Right so certain about its understanding of the viewpoints and beliefs of billions of other human beings that it can categorize, label, and dismiss their importance so easily?
Why is the same group that professes to be supporters of a merciful and forgiving Lord also a vociferous supporter of gun ownership without limits and a massive military?
It just does not add up. People are too complex to group into a couple of political parties. George Washington warned of the result of political parties, and he was absolutely correct.
Let’s be fair: there is an Angry Left (or Angry Liberal) group which does basically the same thing as the Angry Right, only reversed. You have near militant LGBT groups who scream down anyone who dares disagree with their entire agenda, atheists filing lawsuits over Christmas trees in state buildings, etc.
People of all persuasions take can take their politics or their particular pet projects to the extreme. This law in Indiana appears to be along the same lines. What’s truly sad is that this law is far, far more likely to be used to discriminate against people (whether religion, sexuality, race, whatever) than it is to be used to “protect” businesses from having the right to refuse service to someone they simply don’t like.
I love Christmas trees, after all what could be more pagan other than Santa Claus and indeed most of the rest of Christmas. A very fine festival we can all share, believers and non believers alike.
“Let’s be fair: there is an Angry Left (or Angry Liberal) group which does basically the same thing as the Angry Right, only reversed.”
I’d suggest that is not even close to true. E.g. Oregon is bringing in a law that will make everyone with a driving license automatically registered to vote… without further paper work and proof of identity. Meantime, Republicans enact laws that have removed large numbers of people from the voter rolls, on being a serving member of her state’s legislature!
Another example is the hateful spite that sometimes gets spewed here. This is not anywhere close to 50/50. Almost always right-wingers.
Motor Voter laws = Illegal immigrant voters. Terrible idea.
Republicans have removed felons from voter rolls, which is a large number of people, and maybe there shouldn’t be felonies for non-violent drug use, but I don’t see the Democrat party ending that injustice.
That’s the only large minority of people that the Republicans have removed from voting.
When the stupid Supreme Court declared previous voter protection laws were no longer needed, many Republican states immediately rushed in laws that have impacted huge numbers of people, making it way more difficult to register, and way more difficult to get to the polls to vote.
Surprise – this has impacted poor people and minorities much more than others. Further surprise – the supposed justification of voter fraud and “bad people” has been shown over and over to be invalid… that voter fraud is a tiny phenomenon.
Even Republican voting administrators have been trying to tell the legislators these laws are not needed and that they have far more negative impact than positive.
Aside from the heinous act of requiring ID, what have “republican states” rushed out to do to impede lawful voting?
“Off to the beach house! Have a nice weekend everybody! And try not to be so angry”
So you post your garbage 5 minutes after MDN puts this post up? We’re supposed to believe you’re a wealthy individual that sits on MDN and refreshes every minute until there’s a political posting worthy of your time? You sir are a phoney, and quite possibly a ghost writer for Steve Jack. Sole proprietor of MDN
So, so angry. Extra pissed about the beach house, I assume.
They’re called Push Notifications. You should try them sometime. 🙂
Nice to see the riechwing support christian charria laws. You all are NO better then ISSIS they use beheading swords you use your beloved guns and military complex. Burn babies burn…..in your hell.
Hardly “Christian charria laws”. It is really merely a question of freedom. As a maker of wedding cakes, can I be FORCED into making cakes for gay weddings? How many times have I seen signs stating that a business reserved the right to choose the customers they wished to service? If a person can be barred from a store because they are barefoot, they they can be barred for other reasons. If I have the right to quit my job, why doesn’t a business man have the right to NOT do business? Slavery was outlawed long ago, but those who appose the right of businesses to not engage in participation in gay weddings, are really advocating for slavery, forced labor for a cause they object too. Let freedom ring.
I love how the fascist left down voted your excellent post.
“For the Christian, the ideal end state is safely in the next world and therefore is never in doubt.”
You realise that makes you fucking insane and neatly explains what is wrong with you and “religious freedom” laws?
No computers for you.
In unrelated news today, a new religion was formed which finds fat ugly people are evil. They insist that they should not be compelled to offer services to such people. Forcing them to comply is neither fair and moral.
Where do I sign up?!
Tell you what, I haven’t signed up myself, but give me your email and I will reach out to them and they will send you a form. A donation of 10% of your monthly income is required, but tax deductible.
They may not believe in Evolution, but Devolution is alive and well in the conservative community
Why is the Angry Left so angry?
Along with abject stupidity.
So you consider the right to free association Devolution?
You fool no one anschluss. ZEIG….. gotcha!! whats your arm doing. heidrich?
“In a history-making decision, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana has signed into law a bill that officially recognizes stupidity as a religion.
Pence said that he hoped the law would protect millions of state residents ‘who, like me, have been practicing this religion passionately for years.'”
Why so angry, honey?
Why are the rights of homosexuals and mentally ill “transgenders” more important than the rights of law-abiding religious folks?
The bill signing makes Indiana the 20th state in the nation to adopt such legislation. It is modeled on the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which President Bill Clinton signed in 1993.
Have fun trying to immanentize the eschaton, Angry Left.
You sir are providing facts on record. How dare you! The angry left ignore these truths. I’m an independent conservative…. & ! ..guess what??? I smoke pot. Take responsibility for YOUR OWN ACTIONS PEOPLE.. Good Lord! Or should that be Good Alah!? Jesus is my Home Boy JACK!! In general… People Suck. Have a Grateful Day. 😝🌹
cut to the chase. You are a sociopath. read libertarian.
I would believe it was about choice if the discriminating business was obliged to post in a large sign and in all advertising that they discriminate, and against whom. Make it a HUGE fine to discriminate without having the signs in place. The bigots would be out of business quickly.
Why are those on the right so afraid of gays, science and education? LOL
Don’t be afraid little boys. That gay person isn’t going to hurt you and science isn’t the work of the devil. You’ll be safe if you read books and think beyond what the bible tells you. It’s a big wonderful world out there. Don’t be scared.
Nobody’s afraid, sugar. You sound angry, though.
Why so angry?
This is not a religious freedom bill, it’s a license to discriminate in public accommodations law. I don’t see how religion is in any way safeguarded by this, just because you interact with someone you disagree with doesn’t mean you are agreeing with them. You religious people are so terrified of everything, maybe you should ask yourselves why.
I’m not angry, junior. I’m just laughing at you and your right wing buddies who are so afraid of science.
RUN, JUNIOR, RUN! Here come the scientists! LOL
…and YOU sound bat shit insane, now take your meds.
Ooh, poor baby. Did someone point out how stupid you are? Grow up, little boy.
The far right and their fundamentalist stance on religion has always been fear-based, and manifests as anger, which makes the trolls on here especially laughable.
Like radical Islamists, fundamentalist Christians justify their hate and fear by hiding behind very select passages in their religion’s texts, and ignoring the inconvenient bits. Hell, fundamentalist Christianity and radical Islam are so close in spirit they’re sharing the same bed, though they’ll try shooting you for suggesting such a thing.
As for why they’re terrified of gays, someone said it brilliantly: They’re afraid a gay man will do to them what they themselves actually do to women.
Even if that’s as simple as looking them over and making unsolicited comments and advances.
Neatly sums up their twin hatreds of gays and women… heck, make it a holy trinity of fear and hate by saying they’re afraid a gay *black* man will do to them… etc.
What about amputees, people in wheel chairs? What about people with tattoos? Better not serve them. How about children of Nazi heritage? How about lawyers and illegal immigrants? Where does it begin, and where does it stop? Oh, I see, it’s just the gays. Just them, because they made a lousy decision. Tomorrow they can decide to not be gay and all will be well. They can get married to the opposite sex, have children, be happy. Just like you and me, because they are broken and morally corrupt. Wake up, stop the gays!!!! We’ll all go to Hell.
(This was purely sarcasm)
Love thy neighbor.
I’d think that children of Nazi heritage would already be in the protected group.
Gollum, I was agreeing with you until you used the word “lawyers.” Personally, I think discriminating against lawyers should be allowed and even encouraged.
With fewer lawyers the US would be a better place.
Can’t win them all. I work with lawyers, occasionally. They all aren’t bad. They are more like a tool with powers to abuse or help.
Most cogent comment yet.
“Love thy neighbor.”
When he shits all over my human dignity and violates my civil rights? No, I don’t think so. To do that I’d have to be a practicing Christian rather than the professional “Christians” who have been posting to this site.
And since I do not believe for one millisecond in the superstitious claptrap called the eschaton my actions will have no immanent effect. Immanentizing, by the way is not a word, as immanent is an adjective. In fact, there is no verb form for the word.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanentize_the_eschaton
It’s amazing that liberals don’t see their own hubris in the mirror. What if the gov’t deems pork to an essential part of our diet and then forces a Jewish sandwich shop or Muslim restaurant to serve pork as part of a balanced diet?
What made this country great is that people of faith respected other people of faith, or of no faith. And those with faith in nothing also respected those with a faith in God.
For those of you who denigrate faith, just remember that the Judeo/Christian values of private property, free enterprise, freedom of religion, the ability to enjoy one’s own profit, and the building of a strong nation by strong family values are what built this country.
When you abandon them, as many European countries already have, you get a stagnant labor pool, high taxes, loss of property rights, fewer religious options, high gov’t intervention and high public debt. In effect, you become merely sheeple for the gov’t to entertain and control.
We have the only constitution that is rooted by an IDEA – that IDEA that our rights come from God. Remove that, and you no longer have rights, only slowly declining privileges.
It is amazing that conservatives so often take an opposing viewpoint to the absurd in order to attempt to discredit it. Perhaps it extends from the fact that many conservative viewpoints are founded in the absurd.
What is so absurd about what I said? Liberalism and its effects on European societies are directly related to a lapse in principles that founded these ancient countries.
Do you remember Michelle Obama’s lunch program that is forcing kids to eat completely different foods? Is forcing non-hallal or kosher food that far away?
It’s Biblical principle that a country should not be indebted to another nor should people fall into debt.
It’s Biblical principle that if a person is entitled to enjoy the work of his hands and the property that he owns. Witness the confiscatory tax regimes of European countries (and also our death tax).
Working and paying for one’s own survival is an important Biblical principle. As is industriousness and being enterprising. Depending upon others when you can work for yourself, even at a menial job was considered immoral. Europe is sagging under their own welfare states (and we are too).
What about search and seizure? In the Bible, you had to have two witnesses to establish an accusation establishing a right of privacy. in our NSA/Gestapo/KGB world, you have no right of privacy.
The discipline of science was founded not by Muslims or polytheists who believe in the arbitrary wills of their gods. It was founded by people who believed that God created the world with physical and moral laws so that we could learn about Him and establish a relationship with Him. If His will and creation is arbitrary, you cannot have science and laws.
And the whole point of the Constitution is that the founders saw these same abuses back in their own country and rooted the rights as from God to prevent as much as possible this from happening again.
Not so absurd now, am I?
Actually, science was founded by the ancient Greeks. Polytheists and generally all around enjoyers of the butt sex. Algebra was invented by the Arabs. Facts are better than superstition.
“What is so absurd about what I said?”
It started in your first paragraph.
It isn’t about a Jewish/Muslim sandwich shop being forced to serve pork. That would be like forcing a sandwich shop to start selling SUVs, instead of going to a car dealership.
This is about what circumstances a sandwich shop is allowed to not sell something, that they are selling to everyone else. “I don’t like you even though I don’t know you” is not a valid reason.
In closing, why are you trying to use the Bible so much? Jesus said, “give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s”. And he also pointed out that his kingdom was in Heaven, not Earth. Jesus would have been a supporter of the separation of Church and State.
Well, by your same example they are selling pro gay cakes to others and not to the LGBT. But it’s not even the cake but the messages that they are being asked to out on the cake.
Or in the case of a Jewish or Muslim deli shop, what if they were asked to serve their food at a pork conference? Or a Catholic catering service asked to cater a porn studio?
What you don’t understand is that separation of church and state is not about the free practice of citizens but the prohibition of government against establishing religion. People have have always made judgement calls in the operation of their business according to their ideals even if we disagree with them.
What if you found yourself on the losing side of tyranny KingMel?
(Tyranny means cruel & oppressive) Not unlike our current greedy, corrupt government who only have their own best interests to increase THEIR OWN BANK ACCOUNTS $$$$$$$$$$$$$$. (iThank the Lord iOwn AAPL) iPonder PeasantMel, as you are being repressed, you would not be in your current mindset.
Flip the coin KingMel…. now you are on the throne, & YOU COULD GIVE RATS ASS ABOUT ANYTHING THAT BREATHS. Narcissistic behavior has corrupted this once great country absolutely. Look no further than OBlahBlah. Some people you just can’t reach. Isn’t that right Luke?
I don’t know what country you are a part of, but the US constitution does not mention god. The thought that our rights come from some omnipresent being is insane. Our rights come to us because they are a part of a legally binding contract between the government and the people governed. God has nothing to do with it.
I didn’t say our Constitution mentioned the word “god”. I said that our constitution is rooted in the idea that our rights come from God. This is evidenced by the large body of writings by the framers in regards to the Constitution.
The Constitution does not grant rights – it only elaborates them for the purposes of limiting the gov’t, not empowering people.
No. Rights do not come from god. If so; whose god? and what are these rights? The rights that we enjoy as US citizens are certainly different than any rights enjoyed by other countries throughout history. If they were provided by “god” than shouldn’t all people have had the same rights throughout time? Why are certain “christian” communities forbidden to do things that are perfectly legal in the US; such as dancing. Your ‘god’ sounds pretty psychotic in regards to what she grants as rights. I don’t think I like her.
Look no further than Pete Seeger’s life and TELL ME the U.S. Government is not corrupt & oppressive. In addition, Pete Seeger is a WHITE BOY! Do your homework…..RaaaaNDY.
http://www.peteseeger.net/court1961.htm
“Our rights come to us because they are a part of a legally binding contract between the government and the people governed.”???????
ABSOLUTELY DELUSIONAL
Where were Pete Seeger’s rights?
RaaaaaaNDY?
Pete Seeger’s legacy is the answer RANDY…. YOU are THE PROBLEM of this country.
Yeah, I’m disappointed too.
There are few things in scripture more clear than that homosexuality is sin just like adultery and sex outside of marriage. The difference is the homosexuals insist, no demand, that everyone deny what they know and join them in proclaiming that homosexuality is not sin. So as I understand this “law” in indiana, it says you can be faithful to the truth of scripture without fear that the state will empower sin to persecute truth using the power of the state.
This battle will never end, because the truth is clearly stated. It doesnt matter how many hollywood personalities or politicians or godless judges say otherwise. There is forgiveness for every sin except the one that is not acknowledged. The voices on the other side are the same historical voices of force and compulsion that imagine that they can compel conformity in thought. It will never happen. The more force that is applied the more Christians are forced to confront the reality of their faith and acknowledge the truth of God.
The church is growing around the world. If it is under attack here, then what a privilege it is for us. Homosexuality is sin. A sin that is forgiven by the work of Jesus the Christ. He said, take up your cross and follow me. That cross is your sin. Put your sin on the cross and follow.
What is really sought by evil is to force the faithful to deny the truth of scripture and go beyond tolerance and mercy and say: “homosexuality is not sin. Scripture is simply wrong”. What a pathetic comment it is about our society that we are forced to spend our attention on this.
Do you also follow the directions in that stone-age book of yours on:
– Stoning your children to death if they talk back to you.
– How to treat your slaves.
– Genocide.
– Given your daughters to be gang-raped because the crowd wants to “know” the men (angels) who are visiting you.
?
Sorry matey, you don’t get to cherry pick the wise bits from the vicious psychopathic gibberish. That book is not “The Truth” of anything. Such beliefs belong to the childhood of our species – of fear of lighting, noises in the night, storms and meteors. It’s time to grow up.
Will the NCAA a pull out of Indianapolis and take the Final Four with it? This sure isn’t Kansas anymore.
You know, there is nothing wrong with American politics that four or five new parties couldn’t fix.
How about separation of church and state, religion is bogus bullsh!t. It’s a waste of time, money, minds, and resources. There is no God, it’s 2015 only idiots believe Jesus will save them and that there is some afterlife for your organic consciousness that exists only as patterns of electrical signals.
This is just as ridiculous as a governor spending tons of energy and tax dollars approving a bill to protect the rights of Santa by legally allowing discrimination against people without white hair.
F’ everyone who believes in God. Everyone in the government who ever publicly says anything about religion should lose their job, and anyone who attempts to pass laws about religion should be deported for treason for disobeying the constitution’s demand that there be separation between religion and the government. It’s nobody’s business. I don’t want to hear about anyone’s religion. It’s just as appalling to me as hearing you talk about your bowel movements as if they run your life.
What an ignorant country full of hicks and low IQ pieces of sh!t wasting potential for forward progress.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/midwest-discovered-between-east-and-west-coasts,1356/
There is no doctrine of separation of church and state in the constitution. What the constitution aims at is to make the church free from interference by the state. And when the framers thought about the church, they plainly thought of the christian church.
You got that one just backward. The Constitution seeks to prevent the state from imposing a religion on the citizens. If that were to happen, it would go something like this, always based on majority rule:
1 the US only allows followers of the Old Testament, so Buddhists, Sikhs and Taoists, you convert or get deported
2 On further reflection, no prophets are to be followed, so Muslims and Mormons, get in line with the Buddhists, Sikhs and Taoists.
3 Been thinking a bit more, and we’re not so sure that the doctrine of Apostolic Succession is the real deal. All you Catholics, Episcopalians and Methodists, jump into the line.
etc, etc, etc.
You are a sad excuse as a scholar and Christian both.
It seems to me that “imposing a religion” is a type of “interference of religion by the state.” You claim to be disagreeing but are saying the same thing.
“F’ everyone who believes in God. Everyone in the government who ever publicly says anything about religion should lose their job,”
Your thoughts are depraved, but perhaps it will be so. Let every Christian consider if they should support a society of anti-christ and the demon possessed. Perhaps Christians need to question what they are doing working for government in the first place. You think that will make you happy, but it will simply make the church stronger.
“Perhaps Christians need to question what they are doing working for government in the first place.”
Perhaps government should gets its tentacles out of every aspect of our lives. ‘F’ you douchebags who believe in big government. What is more corrupt, more immoral, more wasteful and more sinister than a big government that takes insane amounts of money from hard-working citizens and enriches its leaching and mooching cronies?
So it’s obvious the comments have been freeped by Teabagging Dominionists. Why they’d ever want anything to do with a company run by a brilliant gay man is beyond me. Usually they’re out denying immigration, rewriting US history to infer we are a Christian nation or telling women how they can use their uterus. Then there’s the gays. They just love to beat up on the gays!
And now they’re here in the comments! How lucky are we today!
Look you lot… Among the various people who think they are my representatives, Pope Frank is a bit closer to The Truth. Asked about gays, he shrugged and said, “Who am I to judge?”
Also, I don’t give a rat’s ass which bits of their bodies various people rub against which bit of various other people’s bodies.
And you are ALL my children. How fucking you set yourselves up to judge, exclude and persecute. Morons. You’re really ticking me off.
Also, I really, really, really don’t care if you call be god, jehovah, allah, brahma, zeus, odin, spaghetti monster or esmerelda the giant green tortoise. Or – actually – I must admit that I rather like the last.
And, okay, okay, I admit it. Over 60,000 species. Yes, I do have an inordinate love of beetles. And bats. Bats almost as much as beetles. And brittle stars. They’re pretty good. Made over a thousand kinds of those. And lichens. Love lichens.
So, you’re implying that, really, “it’s turtles all the way down,” another way of saying that infinity exists but you don’t.
Darn! Y’ got me!
Lord,
I’m curious… I’m sure lots of fine christians give it to their girlfriends and wives in the ass. But they are SO in a twist about guys doing the same thing. How are you on this?
Thanks for asking John. Well, an ass is an ass. I don’t care if it’s on a female body or a male body. Same for mouths. And frankly, I also don’t care if they give it to each other in the ear, or up their nose.
It is SO beyond even my almost-omnipotence how these people think I’m going to torture others for eternity because they didn’t say the right words, or broke some pissy little rules, or didn’t take “the kid” into their heart. Soooooo twisted. I know EVERYTHING else, but I don’t know how they come up with this childish, pathological crap.
Personally, here’s how I think it should run:
If you sell something that’s a commodity – in other words, you’re reselling it unaltered, or you create it in a manufacturing process that’s devoid of creativity unique to the individual instance of the product – then you have to sell it to anyone.
However, if you’re selling something that involves your creativity or artistry, you’re not selling a commodity – you’re accepting a commission. Or not. One should be free to decline such a commission on any grounds, or none; no one may compel my service without due process of law which takes my rights into account as primary over the rights of the person demanding that I serve them.
The first is a public accommodation; the second is an artistic endeavor. There’s a major difference.
So if you want to buy a cake off the shelf at the bakery, then any baker must sell that cake to you. However, if you want a special cake, or the cake decorated to your specifications, no one is obligated to do that for you no matter who you are.
Involuntary servitude is against the Constitution, folks, unless you’re not in favor of equal rights for all. And I mean ALL.
Is an upscale restaurant, the result of the creative actions of the owner, chef and staff a public accomodation or an artistic endeavor? What if they are opposed to mixed race couples? What if they are followers of the Church of White’s All Right?
I think people should not get so hung up on what they imagine other people might do in bed. It is NONE of their business.
OBTW, I also think the servitude becomes voluntary when the “Open of Business” sign goes up. If you don’t like the laws governing the business you want to do, do something else.
You perverted asskweer Cook. You and you ilk are nasty dogs. You suckoff your boyfriend and think thats normal. you are a dog
Has anyone ever sucked you off? Have you had anal sex? Or judging by the apparent age reflected in your manner of writing, you may not be old enough. In that case, have you even thought about either? Have you “spilled your seed upon the ground”?
If any of the above, you are an ignorant hypocrite.
When MDN presents the news, I am appreciative of their excellent efforts.
Bravo.
I am however, “deeply disappointed” when MDN insists on editorializing (rather than just presenting the news), and in the process encourages and supports angry, harsh and hateful comments/speech.
I suppose if I was to write that I won’t be participating further by exposing myself to those sorts of hurtful approaches, then MDN management would likely respond: “Good. Who needs ‘ya ?” … and that would be a pity for those like me who simply want the news and nothing more.
Please decide to either report the tech news or promote your own political agenda.
You do the first brilliantly.
I don’t think it’s possible to do both in a calm and thoughtful fashion.
Respectfully,
Lawrence
Nowhere in this article does MacDailyNews “editorialize.” They simply present the news, as you insisted they do (even though it is their site and they can do whatever TF they want).
You make no sense.
Ah a bunch of Americans fighting each other, global security is enhanced today.
To the poster who said our rights do not come free a creator, a deity, or nature itself, you are woefully ignorant of the founding of this nation.
Rights granted by men can be taken away by the said men. Rights granted by a kind deity cannot be revoked by any man, king, or tyrant. Thus the philosophical importance of where our rights come from.
Also, regarding this Indiana law, state and the federal constitutions guarantee the free exercise of your religion. Being forced to serve what are seen as pagan rituals surely trample upon the free exercise clause.
This sort of stuff never ceases to amaze me.
There are – what? – probably thousands of religions… of the present and of the past. Quite a few have their own “the book”. Many others have oral traditions. You regard all those other religions as fairy stories. Some of them you may enjoy for entertainment value — e.g. the stories of the Norse gods. Others you maybe think of as merely silly. But you think YOUR stories constitute the ultimate truth of the universe. Trouble is, that’s what they all think, too. And you have no more evidence than they do – a book.
Furthermore, on rights that come from your god… Do those include the right to:
– Stone your children to death for talking back.
– Committing genocide on other groups.
– Raping the captive women of those groups.
?
Such are the rights given by god in the biblical tradition.
Instead of down-voting my post, let’s see you try to defend your book that tells you to stone children, commit genocide, rape, keep slaves, and much more.
“I like this beautiful and wise part, so I’ll keep that.” (Yes, absolutely, I totally acknowledge there is much that is wise and beautiful.)
“I don’t like the stoning of children, rape and genocide, so I’ll just go lala-lala-lala and pretend, to myself and others, that isn’t really there.”
Taken a whole, the bible is SO obviously not even up to the level of a highly ethically-developed human, never mind some kind of ultimate supernatural being of ultimate love and goodness.
It’s clear to me after following the comments on this topic, most people have no idea about this bill or its intended effects, due to incredibly sloppy and dishonest reporting. Let’s talk about factual information instead of debating media spin and dlonizing other people.
Currently, 19 states have a Religious Freedom Restoration Act (AL, CT, FL, ID, IN, IL, KS, KY, LA, MO, MS, NM, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, and VA). Ten other states have religious liberty protections that state courts have interpreted to provide a similar (strict scrutiny) level of protection (AK, MA, ME, MI, MN, MT, NC, OH, WA, and WI). With some exceptions (such as Mississippi), the state versions are almost exactly the same as the federal version.
As law professor Josh Blackman explains, the “RFRA does not provide immunity [to discriminate]. It only allows a defendant to raise a defense, which a finder of fact must consider, like any other defense that can be raised under Title VII or the ADA. RFRA is *not* a blank check to discriminate.”
People talk about the law being used to discriminate against self-identified gays, or even other religious groups or races. If what you say is true, why hasn’t those scenarios happened, in the last twenty years those other states’ law were in effect? You need to look at the exact intention and wording of the law.
None of the RFRA’s even mention homosexuals, nor are they about discrimination. As University of Notre Dame law professor Rick Garnett explains, regarding the Indiana law:
[T]he act is a moderate measure that tracks a well-established federal law and the laws of several dozen other states. Contrary to what some critics have suggested, it does not give anyone a “license to discriminate,” it would not undermine our important civil-rights commitments, and it would not impose excessive burdens on Indiana’s courts.
Again, this whole thing amounts to incredibly sloppy and dishonest reporting being used to create conflict where there is none and demo using people whose convictions differ from others. If you want to boycott Indiana, are you willing to boycott the other 29 states as well?
Exactly. The law merely affirms the First Amendment.
Nobody seems able to tell us what, exactly, they don’t like about the actual law.
@anevilmeme; I am deeply disappointed as well … in the way that people of different political persuasions communicate with one another, in that we can’t seem to disagree without being disagreeable, in that I am unable to read “just the facts” without harshness and hate. I’m 66 and not only is this direction in our political dialog deeply disturbing, I do not see where it is necessary in what I thought was a news forum. Just give me the news please, and if a site can not do that, I suppose I shall then have to be content to read the headlines and give up on a meaningful dialog. And that would be a pity.
I say let the baker have the freedom to refuse service…all the better for the baker up the street that celebrates diversity. no better way to move the needle than affecting the bottom line.