Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), passed by Indiana legislators last week, has caused a massive amount of backlash from a variety of different sources.
This new law would effectively allow Indiana businesses to refuse service to gay people on the grounds of religious objection. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has been a main proponent of the new law and has most recently attempted to claim that the intention of the new law is misunderstood.
It’s incredibly disappointing that even in the modern United States, we still have governmental leaders who have utter disregard for equality. Legislating in favor of private businesses having more control over their own operations is generally a good thing, yet opening the door for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is unacceptable.
It is worth noting that Indiana is not the only state with a RFRA law (not to mention the Federal RFRA), and these laws have generally not resulted in widespread discrimination against the LGBT community.
But I still call into question the underlying basis of a law that, if applied morally, has little effect on the status quo yet opens a backdoor to legal protection for immoral discrimination.
From a political and economic standpoint, Gov. Pence has dealt Indiana a huge blow, as many businesses and organizations have mulled over boycotting the state.
For example, Gen Con — the nation’s largest gaming convention that holds their annual convention in Indiana — has threatened to move out of the state if the law isn’t changed. The NCAA has also asked questions about the effects of the law, and their tenure in Indiana could be threatened if they are uncomfortable with the possible results from the RFRA.
It may have been in Gov. Pence’s best interest to follow the example of Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer who, last year, ended up vetoing similar legislation after seeing the amount of backlash would come out of a relatively minor action. Brewer was quoted as saying that the measure had "the potential to create more problems than it purports to solve.”
Rather than having the foresight to see how much trouble this legislation, Gov. Pence went ahead and signed Indiana’s RFRA law in a private ceremony with religious leaders from multiple faiths. While the religious leaders had no real hand in writing the legislation, the idea of the legislation being signed in a backroom setting with religious leaders points towards a question of the level of separation between church and state in Indiana.
While faith is a big pillar of our society, religion and religious leaders have absolutely no space to be included in law making, even in a ceremonial gesture.
Whether or not the law is discriminatory, which I believe it certainly can be, Gov. Pence and the Indiana lawmakers made a huge mistake by even bringing this act onto the table. What good could possibly come out of this law that would offset the negative counter-reaction from the rest of the nation?
Perhaps Gov. Pence should put a bigger emphasis on doing what’s best for his citizenry rather than his clergy.