These "Religious Freedom" Bills Are the New Stand-Your-Ground Laws

[applegrove]

These "Religious Freedom" Bills Are the New Stand-Your-Ground Laws

BY ERIC SASSON at the New Republic

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116733/arizona-religious-freedom-bill-new-stand-your-ground-law

"SNIP......................................


What does this all mean for bills like SB1062? Granting people the legal right to invoke religious beliefs to justify their right to refuse service will embolden many people who might have otherwise been afraid to do so. Moreover, the defense could end up being a largely successful one. Certainly jurors who might already be biased will be unafraid to side with the defendants, but even those who might not agree with the law will be hard pressed not to accept its validity; should a defendant make a somewhat rational case for why their religious beliefs would be violated by providing these services, the jurors would be forced by the law to acquit. The law would not only provide cover to judges and juries who might otherwise harbor sentiments against the defendants for whatever reason, but would even compel those who aren't biased to rule in favor of the accused parties.

Many have compared these laws to the gay propaganda bill that passed in Russia last June, some expressing dismay that such laws could be enacted here in America. In the sense that the Russian law seems to have emboldened many Russians to hunt down LGBT people (a law recently passed in Nigeria seems to doing the same thing), it's not hard to draw the same conclusions here. These Republican legislators claim to want to protect people of faith, yet they did not invoke a single legitimate instance where a person's freedom of religion is compromised by having to serve others. Purporting to be against discrimination, these lawmakers are trying to use the victim card against the very people they want to discriminate against. Yet there is a tacit social contract we all sign in pluralistic societies: Even when we do not agree with everyone's beliefs or lifestyles, we still agree to treat each other fairly.

There's something vaguely desperate about these laws, the last gasp of a cause aware that it's dying. They are unlikely to pass constitutional muster; they hardly seem to be trying to do so. In all likelihood, Brewer will veto SB1062. As law, it would not only cause a ridiculous pileup in the courts but could tear at the social fabric of the state, exposing certain prejudices that best remain hidden—the landmines are too numerous for the governor to risk so late into her term. Still, this will hardly be the last we hear of these dubious "religious freedom" arguments. Every step in the civil rights movement was met with resistance. Now that the push for LGBT rights has gained such momentum, the backlash will only get stronger.





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[rustydog]

1. No, these "religious FREEDUMB" bills are a revisal of

No Coloreds allowed. White water fountain, colored water fountain. Get to the BACK of the bus, boy.

That is what these religious freedom bills are about. Only it is now LGBT being subjected to the bigotry and hatred.

[RKP5637]

3. The haters just have to have something to hate, it is a core aspect of their

personalities. They try to mask their innate hatred with religion, but their lust for hatred and persecution shines through like an evil mask.

[RKP5637]

2. K&R !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! n/t

[Thinkingabout]

4. K & R

This seems to be the aim of the radical right or American Taliban. They have a few politicians in their pocket and to get their way the sponsor bills to get the rest to follow their thoughts. It is the war on women, war on the poor and middle class, war on LGBT, war on their conception of illegal, it goes on and on. They cry Obamacare but it is me, me, me or I, I, I.