dear lord...backwards, backwards, backwards....
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/...l-reactions-religious-freedoms-bill/82463028/
Nation reacts to Mississippi's 'Religious Freedom' bill
Sarah Fowler, The Clarion-Ledger7:34 p.m. CDT March 31, 2016
The Mississippi Senate passed HB1523, known as the Religious Liberty Accommodation Act, Wednesday night in a 32-17 vote. The bill gives businesses the right to deny service to members of the LGBT community based on religious or moral beliefs without facing retribution from the state.
Within minutes of its passing, national organizations weighed in with their response.
The Human Rights Campaign called the acts of Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and the Mississippi Senate "shameful" and called on Gov. Phil Bryant to veto the bill.
“Following the shameful actions of Lt. Governor Reeves and the Mississippi Senate, Governor Bryant is left with a very clear choice on how to lead his state forward when H.B. 1523 comes to his desk,”said HRC president Chad Griffin. “Will he follow the example of Georgia Governor Nathan Deal and South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard, who understood that discrimination in any form is unacceptable? Or will he align himself with North Carolina's Governor McCrory, who, in sanctioning discrimination, has harmed both his constituents and the economy of North Carolina?”
A spokesman for Bryant said Thursday the governor has not decided whether to sign the bill.
The Civil and Human Rights Coalition compared the bill to Jim Crow. If Bryant does not veto the bill, they said, Mississippi will be set back to the time under former Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett.
"Ross Barnett, a former Mississippi governor, once used religion to justify Jim Crow laws by calling God 'the original segregationist.' Religious arguments have also been used in our nation to oppose women’s suffrage, interracial marriage, the acceptance of Asian immigrants, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the abolition of slavery," the coalition said in an emailed statement. "Bryant’s choice is clear: Either follow the path of progress or turn back the clock to the time of Ross Barnett. The civil rights community strongly urges him to veto HB1523"
Thursday afternoon, Nissan North America released a statement on the bill, saying they oppose any legislation that would allow discrimination against the LGBT community. Nissan employs approximately 6,400 people at their Canton facility, according to Josh Clifton, senior manager of corporate communications.
"Nissan is committed to providing our employees with an inclusive workplace environment that supports diversity," the company said via email. "It is Nissan’s policy to prohibit discrimination of any type, and we oppose any legislation that would allow discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals.”
Tom Wildmon, president of the American Family Association, a national Christian organization based in Tupelo, said he "applauded" state legislators.
Wildmon said he feels that the bill protects Christians from discrimination and is not legal discrimination against the LGBT community.
"If you feel like homosexuality is a sin then, if you're forced as a business to participate in that sin, that’s a violation of your religious freedom," Wildmon said. "The other side should show love and compassion to the Christians by not forcing them to do something against their religion. These people are out to punish the Christians who don’t want to participate."
Referencing providing a service to a same-sex couple who wants to get married, Wildmon said, "The owner doesn't go, 'Well, are you gay? Then you can't buy a cake.' That's insane."
He added, however, that the government should not be able to force a business to provide a service that is against their religious beliefs.
"They shouldn't be forced by the government to do that," he said. "That’s not unloving or unkind. That’s somebody who has a conviction about that and they don’t want to participate in it. Just like if somebody doesn't want to drive an alcoholic to a bar … I don't want to participate in that. He can go on his own if wants to. They can get married if they want to."
When asked if he felt denying service to members of the LGBT community was reminiscent of Jim Crow, Wildmon said, "I don’t see somebody's skin color being compared to somebody's sexual behavior. It’s a behavior. People have to act on it. They might say that they were born that way or can't help it but that’s different than somebody's skin color.
"A person being gay or lesbian is by definition a sexual behavior. Being black or Hispanic or white, you’re born with that."
The ACLU said they were " deeply disturbed" by the bill that "allows freedom of religion to cover prejudice and to justify discrimination."
"Freedom of religion is one of our most fundamental rights as Americans, but that freedom does not give any of us the right to harm or mistreat others," ACLU of Mississippi Executive Director Jennifer Riley-Collins said in an emailed statement.
"The ACLU of MS believes that all people are free to follow and practice their faith, or no faith at all, without government influence or interference, and that the government remains completely neutral regarding matters of religion and belief. When we seek to codify discriminatory legislation, we tarnish the treasure of religious freedom and the highest ideals of our democracy."
Before it heads to the governor to sign, the bill heads back to conference in the House.
Urging the state legislature to "kill this divisive bill," Riley-Collins said, "Legislators have gone out of their way to stigmatize and marginalize same-sex couples by pushing this legislation. The Mississippi State Legislature should look for ways to bring Mississippians together, not divide us along religious lines."
Former talk show host and media personality Montel Williams said on Twitter Wednesday night that he was considering coming to Jackson to protest.
Thursday afternoon, Williams elaborated, saying, "Let’s remember that no church, no minister may be compelled by the government to perform any sacrament for anyone, that is bedrock First Amendment law. This bill is about one thing — sanctioning the denial of public accommodation to LGBT Mississippians under the guise of faith — that is wrong, and evokes the memory in not so distant history in which then Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett declared 'God was the original segregationist.' I will not be silent."The National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce said HB1523 doesn't protect people but "increases risk for the most vulnerable."
“It's morally unacceptable that hardworking, tax-paying LGBT Mississippians can continue to be fired from their jobs, evicted from their homes, or denied service in restaurants and shops simply for being who they are, now with the full support of their elected representatives,” said NGLCC Co-Founder & President Justin Nelson. “This law doesn’t protect anyone, in fact it increases risk for the most vulnerable. All Mississippians deserve to live and work in a place that values and respects all people. There will be a major impact on the Mississippi’s economy as both major corporations and small businesses will take their businesses to states where all are welcome.”
NGLCC Co-Founder and CEO Chance Mitchell said the organization will not do business in a state that "endorses hate."
"Our NGLCC stakeholders, which include some of the world's largest corporations and most successful small business owners, want to do business in states that value and welcome all people and recognize that a fully engaged workforce and supply chain is one where all citizens can bring their whole selves to their business every day, free from fear of discrimination,” Mitchell said. “The non-discrimination and intentional inclusion policies of a state play a tremendous role in our selection process for our high-profile events, including the NGLCC International Business & Leadership Conference. NGLCC will not be spending our community’s money in a state that publicly endorses hate and discrimination.”
Jackson City Council President Melvin Priester Jr. posted on his Facebook pageThursday morning that bills like HB1523 push people out of Mississippi.
"Phil and Tate wonder why we struggle to retain college educated young people," the post read. "They really do. They have studies and panels all the time about ending Mississippi's brain drain. Then they push stuff like this so-called religious liberty bill."
When reached by telephone Thursday afternoon, Priester said he left Mississippi to go to college but he moved back because he saw promise in the state.
"I find it heartbreaking but, at the same time, I moved back to Mississippi and there are so many people that are moving back to Mississippi because we’re not going to give up on this state," he said. "I do believe we can move forward. Despite my disappointment in seeing what happened, I think that there is a new generation of Mississippians who are committed to this state regardless of what older leaders do and who don’t want to see this state be left behind."
"We really do have the ability to bring this state to a new era," he said. "People that know in a generation or two, their ideas will no longer be supported so they’re trying to lash out because they know they’re wounded."
Chris Donald, a United Methodist pastor and Chaplain at Millsaps College, helped author a letter to The Clarion-Ledger regarding HB1523. Donald and other ministers throughout the state say they object to the bill as "concerned citizens and as followers of Jesus Christ."
Donald said the bill is "not really about religion but liberty and freedom."
The letter reads as follows:
We write to you today as concerned citizens and as followers of Jesus Christ.
House Bill 1523 must not pass. Though it is called the “Religious Liberty Accommodations Act” it is not intended to promote liberty but to deny it; it is not meant to accommodate belief but to enable discrimination. Allow us to explain why we believe this as disciples of Jesus Christ and as citizens.
First, as followers of Jesus Christ: There are two stories in Scripture that are the most important, which create the frame through which all other Scripture is read: the story of the Exodus from Egypt and the story of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Both are stories of liberty and God setting people free. In the Exodus, God quite literally frees the people from enslavement, setting them free from bondage, securing their liberty. In the Resurrection, God frees the entire world from the powers of sin and death, offering freedom and liberty to all who accept it, and opening membership in God’s people to all who desire it. God sets people free. God offers liberty. And God’s people are called to work for liberty and freedom, particularly for individuals and groups who are oppressed and endangered. But it is not a liberty that comes at the expense of the freedom of others. House Bill 1523 may permit a kind of liberty, but it does so by discriminating against others, by limiting the liberty of other people.
Second, as concerned citizens: We do not understand the state’s compelling interest that would allow its intervention in public affairs in the name of religious belief. This is not protection of religious freedom, but a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The state is claiming the power to interfere in public business and commerce for no other purpose than to preference one individual’s religious belief, in fact establishing that faith for the purpose of public policy and state action. It is arrogance of the highest order to presume that mere humans can adjudicate the validity of religious belief and truths about God’s intentions. And it is foolishness to hand the power to discern God’s will to the state. House Bill 1523 will allow the State of Mississippi to preference religious beliefs and the State of Mississippi has no business judging which religious beliefs are more valid than others.
House Bill 1523 would allow the state to preference one religious belief over another, ultimately limiting liberty. We urge the Lieutenant Governor, the Senate, and the Governor to protect religious liberty from the overreaching power of the state and block passage of House Bill 1523.
Rev. Chris Donald, Jackson
Rev. Justin McCreary, Jackson
Rev. Melanie Dickson Lemburg, Madison
Rev. Dr. Susan Hrostowski, Hattiesburg
Rev. Chris Perkins, Byram
Rev. Marian D. Fortner, Hattiesburg
Rev. Dr. Rusty Edwards, Hattiesburg
Rev. Brandiilyne Mangum-Dear, Hattiesburg
Rev. Bert Montgomery, Starkville
Rev. Kyle Dice Seage, Jackson
Rep. Andy Gipson (R) and Sen. Michael Watson (R), proponents of the bill who have been vocal on social media, did not return calls seeking comment.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/...l-reactions-religious-freedoms-bill/82463028/
Nation reacts to Mississippi's 'Religious Freedom' bill
Sarah Fowler, The Clarion-Ledger7:34 p.m. CDT March 31, 2016The Mississippi Senate passed HB1523, known as the Religious Liberty Accommodation Act, Wednesday night in a 32-17 vote. The bill gives businesses the right to deny service to members of the LGBT community based on religious or moral beliefs without facing retribution from the state.
Within minutes of its passing, national organizations weighed in with their response.
The Human Rights Campaign called the acts of Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and the Mississippi Senate "shameful" and called on Gov. Phil Bryant to veto the bill.
“Following the shameful actions of Lt. Governor Reeves and the Mississippi Senate, Governor Bryant is left with a very clear choice on how to lead his state forward when H.B. 1523 comes to his desk,”said HRC president Chad Griffin. “Will he follow the example of Georgia Governor Nathan Deal and South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard, who understood that discrimination in any form is unacceptable? Or will he align himself with North Carolina's Governor McCrory, who, in sanctioning discrimination, has harmed both his constituents and the economy of North Carolina?”
A spokesman for Bryant said Thursday the governor has not decided whether to sign the bill.
The Civil and Human Rights Coalition compared the bill to Jim Crow. If Bryant does not veto the bill, they said, Mississippi will be set back to the time under former Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett.
"Ross Barnett, a former Mississippi governor, once used religion to justify Jim Crow laws by calling God 'the original segregationist.' Religious arguments have also been used in our nation to oppose women’s suffrage, interracial marriage, the acceptance of Asian immigrants, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the abolition of slavery," the coalition said in an emailed statement. "Bryant’s choice is clear: Either follow the path of progress or turn back the clock to the time of Ross Barnett. The civil rights community strongly urges him to veto HB1523"
Thursday afternoon, Nissan North America released a statement on the bill, saying they oppose any legislation that would allow discrimination against the LGBT community. Nissan employs approximately 6,400 people at their Canton facility, according to Josh Clifton, senior manager of corporate communications.
"Nissan is committed to providing our employees with an inclusive workplace environment that supports diversity," the company said via email. "It is Nissan’s policy to prohibit discrimination of any type, and we oppose any legislation that would allow discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals.”
Tom Wildmon, president of the American Family Association, a national Christian organization based in Tupelo, said he "applauded" state legislators.
Wildmon said he feels that the bill protects Christians from discrimination and is not legal discrimination against the LGBT community.
"If you feel like homosexuality is a sin then, if you're forced as a business to participate in that sin, that’s a violation of your religious freedom," Wildmon said. "The other side should show love and compassion to the Christians by not forcing them to do something against their religion. These people are out to punish the Christians who don’t want to participate."
Referencing providing a service to a same-sex couple who wants to get married, Wildmon said, "The owner doesn't go, 'Well, are you gay? Then you can't buy a cake.' That's insane."
He added, however, that the government should not be able to force a business to provide a service that is against their religious beliefs.
"They shouldn't be forced by the government to do that," he said. "That’s not unloving or unkind. That’s somebody who has a conviction about that and they don’t want to participate in it. Just like if somebody doesn't want to drive an alcoholic to a bar … I don't want to participate in that. He can go on his own if wants to. They can get married if they want to."
When asked if he felt denying service to members of the LGBT community was reminiscent of Jim Crow, Wildmon said, "I don’t see somebody's skin color being compared to somebody's sexual behavior. It’s a behavior. People have to act on it. They might say that they were born that way or can't help it but that’s different than somebody's skin color.
"A person being gay or lesbian is by definition a sexual behavior. Being black or Hispanic or white, you’re born with that."
The ACLU said they were " deeply disturbed" by the bill that "allows freedom of religion to cover prejudice and to justify discrimination."
"Freedom of religion is one of our most fundamental rights as Americans, but that freedom does not give any of us the right to harm or mistreat others," ACLU of Mississippi Executive Director Jennifer Riley-Collins said in an emailed statement.
"The ACLU of MS believes that all people are free to follow and practice their faith, or no faith at all, without government influence or interference, and that the government remains completely neutral regarding matters of religion and belief. When we seek to codify discriminatory legislation, we tarnish the treasure of religious freedom and the highest ideals of our democracy."
Before it heads to the governor to sign, the bill heads back to conference in the House.
Urging the state legislature to "kill this divisive bill," Riley-Collins said, "Legislators have gone out of their way to stigmatize and marginalize same-sex couples by pushing this legislation. The Mississippi State Legislature should look for ways to bring Mississippians together, not divide us along religious lines."
Former talk show host and media personality Montel Williams said on Twitter Wednesday night that he was considering coming to Jackson to protest.
Thursday afternoon, Williams elaborated, saying, "Let’s remember that no church, no minister may be compelled by the government to perform any sacrament for anyone, that is bedrock First Amendment law. This bill is about one thing — sanctioning the denial of public accommodation to LGBT Mississippians under the guise of faith — that is wrong, and evokes the memory in not so distant history in which then Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett declared 'God was the original segregationist.' I will not be silent."The National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce said HB1523 doesn't protect people but "increases risk for the most vulnerable."
“It's morally unacceptable that hardworking, tax-paying LGBT Mississippians can continue to be fired from their jobs, evicted from their homes, or denied service in restaurants and shops simply for being who they are, now with the full support of their elected representatives,” said NGLCC Co-Founder & President Justin Nelson. “This law doesn’t protect anyone, in fact it increases risk for the most vulnerable. All Mississippians deserve to live and work in a place that values and respects all people. There will be a major impact on the Mississippi’s economy as both major corporations and small businesses will take their businesses to states where all are welcome.”
NGLCC Co-Founder and CEO Chance Mitchell said the organization will not do business in a state that "endorses hate."
"Our NGLCC stakeholders, which include some of the world's largest corporations and most successful small business owners, want to do business in states that value and welcome all people and recognize that a fully engaged workforce and supply chain is one where all citizens can bring their whole selves to their business every day, free from fear of discrimination,” Mitchell said. “The non-discrimination and intentional inclusion policies of a state play a tremendous role in our selection process for our high-profile events, including the NGLCC International Business & Leadership Conference. NGLCC will not be spending our community’s money in a state that publicly endorses hate and discrimination.”
Jackson City Council President Melvin Priester Jr. posted on his Facebook pageThursday morning that bills like HB1523 push people out of Mississippi.
"Phil and Tate wonder why we struggle to retain college educated young people," the post read. "They really do. They have studies and panels all the time about ending Mississippi's brain drain. Then they push stuff like this so-called religious liberty bill."
When reached by telephone Thursday afternoon, Priester said he left Mississippi to go to college but he moved back because he saw promise in the state.
"I find it heartbreaking but, at the same time, I moved back to Mississippi and there are so many people that are moving back to Mississippi because we’re not going to give up on this state," he said. "I do believe we can move forward. Despite my disappointment in seeing what happened, I think that there is a new generation of Mississippians who are committed to this state regardless of what older leaders do and who don’t want to see this state be left behind."
"We really do have the ability to bring this state to a new era," he said. "People that know in a generation or two, their ideas will no longer be supported so they’re trying to lash out because they know they’re wounded."
Chris Donald, a United Methodist pastor and Chaplain at Millsaps College, helped author a letter to The Clarion-Ledger regarding HB1523. Donald and other ministers throughout the state say they object to the bill as "concerned citizens and as followers of Jesus Christ."
Donald said the bill is "not really about religion but liberty and freedom."
The letter reads as follows:
We write to you today as concerned citizens and as followers of Jesus Christ.
House Bill 1523 must not pass. Though it is called the “Religious Liberty Accommodations Act” it is not intended to promote liberty but to deny it; it is not meant to accommodate belief but to enable discrimination. Allow us to explain why we believe this as disciples of Jesus Christ and as citizens.
First, as followers of Jesus Christ: There are two stories in Scripture that are the most important, which create the frame through which all other Scripture is read: the story of the Exodus from Egypt and the story of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Both are stories of liberty and God setting people free. In the Exodus, God quite literally frees the people from enslavement, setting them free from bondage, securing their liberty. In the Resurrection, God frees the entire world from the powers of sin and death, offering freedom and liberty to all who accept it, and opening membership in God’s people to all who desire it. God sets people free. God offers liberty. And God’s people are called to work for liberty and freedom, particularly for individuals and groups who are oppressed and endangered. But it is not a liberty that comes at the expense of the freedom of others. House Bill 1523 may permit a kind of liberty, but it does so by discriminating against others, by limiting the liberty of other people.
Second, as concerned citizens: We do not understand the state’s compelling interest that would allow its intervention in public affairs in the name of religious belief. This is not protection of religious freedom, but a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The state is claiming the power to interfere in public business and commerce for no other purpose than to preference one individual’s religious belief, in fact establishing that faith for the purpose of public policy and state action. It is arrogance of the highest order to presume that mere humans can adjudicate the validity of religious belief and truths about God’s intentions. And it is foolishness to hand the power to discern God’s will to the state. House Bill 1523 will allow the State of Mississippi to preference religious beliefs and the State of Mississippi has no business judging which religious beliefs are more valid than others.
House Bill 1523 would allow the state to preference one religious belief over another, ultimately limiting liberty. We urge the Lieutenant Governor, the Senate, and the Governor to protect religious liberty from the overreaching power of the state and block passage of House Bill 1523.
Rev. Chris Donald, Jackson
Rev. Justin McCreary, Jackson
Rev. Melanie Dickson Lemburg, Madison
Rev. Dr. Susan Hrostowski, Hattiesburg
Rev. Chris Perkins, Byram
Rev. Marian D. Fortner, Hattiesburg
Rev. Dr. Rusty Edwards, Hattiesburg
Rev. Brandiilyne Mangum-Dear, Hattiesburg
Rev. Bert Montgomery, Starkville
Rev. Kyle Dice Seage, Jackson
Rep. Andy Gipson (R) and Sen. Michael Watson (R), proponents of the bill who have been vocal on social media, did not return calls seeking comment.
