>but exposes the State of Indiana as a bigoted bully (if
>corporations are persons w/religious beliefs then a state
>government can be an illogical bigot and an unreasonable
>bully).
>
>
>>DEFENSE
>>
>>Social conservatives say that the law would stop the
>>government from compelling people to do things they object
>to
>>on religious grounds, like catering or providing flowers for
>a
>>gay wedding.
>
>this is stupid b/c private businesses like florists and
>caterers already had the 'right' to deny service to any
>customer for any reason. certain private businesses that
>provide public accomodations are prohibited from
>discriminating against customers from certain protected
>classes like racial minorities. in Indiana gays are not a
>protected class under the state's anti-discrimination statute.
> so as far as i know a florist could deny providing service
>for a gay wedding already w/o this law.
>
>>< Article Excerpt "In any event, most religious freedom[br />>>claims have nothing to do with same-sex marriage or
>>discrimination. The proposed Indiana RFRA would provide
>>valuable guidance to Indiana courts, directing them to
>balance
>>religious freedom against competing interests under the same
>>legal standard that applies throughout most of the land. It
>is
>>anything but a "license to discriminate," and it should not
>be
>>mischaracterized or dismissed on that basis.]
>
>duh. the US Constitution already handled that.
>
>let's be for real - the law was passed b/c some anti-gays went
>to the state legislature whining and crying and the
>legislature handed them this pacifier to assuage their hurt
>feewings b/c the gays can get marriage licenses and waaaah
>waaaah waaaaah.
>
>it's stupid.
>
>and now the state has shot itself in the foot and created all
>of this drama for no good reason, really. but maybe it won't
>end up hurting the bottom line - $. a few entities have made
>some noise about leaving or refusing to do future biz in the
>state due to this statute. maybe that storm will pass and
>things will be just fine for Indiana w/this statute on the
>books.


^^^^End post^^^^^