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Indiana Governor Mike Pence and Indiana Republican Legislators have been taking a beating in the media over the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act that passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Pence.
The handling of this legislation by the media has been nothing short of atrocious.
Sarah Torre from the Heritage Foundation provides a great summary at the Daily Signal of what the bill does and does not do via a infographic from the First Amendment Partnership.
Pence took to the Wall Street Journal to defend the new law. “This is not about legalizing discrimination, it is about restricting the government’s ability to intrude on the religious liberty of our citizens,” Pence said.
The White House doesn’t like the law, but they won’t say how Indiana’s law is any different than what President Obama supported while he was in the Illinois State Senate. Their argument is that it was a couple of decades ago? Religious liberty doesn’t matter now? Lame. Hillary Clinton has spoken out against it, yet it’s essentially the same as the federal law her husband signed when he was President.
Her argument is much the same… that somehow because the year is 2015 we can ignore religious liberty.
Prospective GOP candidates are speaking out in defense of the bill.
“No one here is saying it should be legal to deny someone service at a restaurant or at a hotel because of their sexual orientation, I think that’s a consensus view in America,” U.S. Senator Marco Rubio said Monday on “The Five” that airs on Fox News. “The flip side of it is: should a photographer be punished for refusing to do a wedding that their faith teaches them is not one that is valid in the eyes of God.”
“It is absolutely vital that we do all we can to allow Americans to practice their religious ways, while simultaneously ensuring that no one’s beliefs infringe upon those of others. We should also serve as champions of freedom of religion throughout the world,” Carson told Breitbart News.
“As Americans, we have an obligation to denounce these acts of persecution. For when we stand up to such intolerance, we are defending the root of our freedom, both at home and abroad,” Carson added.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush defended Pence and the law. “I think if they actually got briefed on the law, they wouldn’t be blasting this law. I think Governor Pence has done the right thing. Florida has a law like this. Bill Clinton signed a law like this at the federal level. This is simply allowing people of faith space to be able to express their beliefs. To be able to be people of conscience. I think once the facts are established, people aren’t going to see this as discriminatory at all,” Bush told Hugh Hewitt on his afternoon radio show on Monday.
“There are many cases where people acting on their conscience have been castigated by the government. And this law simply says the government has to have a level of burden to be able to establish that there’s been some kind of discrimination. We’re going to need this,” Bush added. “This is really an important value for our country to — in a diverse country, where you can respect and be tolerant of people’s lifestyles but allow for people of faith to be able to exercise theirs.”
“I support the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act because I support religious liberty as granted to us in our Constitution,” Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said in an email to Breitbart News. “Last year I went to the Reagan Library to argue for the importance of religious liberty and make the case that it is under attack in America today. The fact that there are some who think this law in Indiana, which merely makes it clear that local governments must respect our religious liberty, is controversial clearly shows that religious liberty is indeed under attack.”
“I oppose discrimination and I reject the notion that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is discriminatory,” Jindal added.
AshLee Strong, press secretary for Our American Revival a PAC started by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker said “As a matter of principle, Governor Walker believes in broad religious freedom and the right for Americans to exercise their religion and act on their conscience.”
Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum tweeted his support.
I stand with @mikepence4gov in defense of religious liberty and real tolerance. Will speak about this at GW tonight. http://t.co/TDPWHw91pL
— Rick Santorum (@RickSantorum) March 30, 2015
Santorum’s tweet linked to a University of Virginia Law professor’s defense of RFRA laws and he supports same-sex marriage.
This is simply a common sense bill that helps people, not a discriminatory one.