By: Michelle Carr
Just as there are times that inspiration takes over, there are also times when you just have to stand up and shout loudly about the things you feel are an injustice. In the light of the past couple of weeks with the Indiana Religious Freedom Law issues, I have found myself feeling greatly disappointed. I can’t help but feel that due to the decisions of some, our state has taken a leap back into the past. This decision not only causes undue discrimination, but also hurts our state’s image as others believe that all Hoosier’s support it. It also hurts the state economically as businesses and big events shy away from allowing us to host.
After my initial disgust at this bill, I did some research on in it to make sure I wasn't making a bigger deal of it than need be. What I discovered made me feel completely justified in my feelings of disappointment and anger that I have towards this new law. Even though I had already felt this was taking us away from a more tolerant place, I couldn't figure out why so many attacked Indiana so fiercely when other states had implemented similar laws. What I learned was even though 19 other states do have a version of the Religious Freedom Law theirs mirrors the federal law that was put into place during the Clinton administration. According to Senator Chuck Schumer, who introduced the federal law back in ‘93, these laws were made to basically protect individuals from the government infringing on their religious beliefs. The federal law was not thought to and cannot be used to justify discriminating against anyone regarding sexual preference due to religious beliefs or any other reason. The federal law doesn’t protect companies or corporations from such, considering them as entering the marketplace voluntarily. This was never intended to protect businesses as private individuals. Businesses were considered to have made the choice to work with the public, the public being everyone.
The law that Indiana put into effect is worded differently so that it does not mirror the law the 19 other states. Indiana’s version is worded to protect businesses as individuals. Treating a company as an individual, now allows businesses to enter into the marketplace and then have a defense if they decide to choose which public they will work with. This new wording, can give way for companies and corporations to discriminate against those whose actions do not fit into their beliefs. Without having any nondiscrimination laws in place in Indiana, this new law could be used not only for sexual orientation matters but also for any other subjects that may conflict with religious beliefs. This could potentially open the door for other types of discrimination to take place. I can’t help but feel we have stepped back into a world that supports discrimination.
Religious supporters of the law state that the law is to help protect those from being forced to do jobs that are against their religious beliefs. I am a huge believer in following one’s moral beliefs. I myself have stood up many a times against doing something that I knew was wrong and could potentially hurt someone. But there is a difference in stopping from causing one harm and turning away someone because they are different. As someone who grew up in the church, I could never understand why we were taught to love one another (everyone) and yet continued to set some people apart from ourselves. To me these sets of ideals seemed to conflict and always seemed confusing.
One of the stories I remember the most from my youth spent in the church was the one of The Good Samaritan. It was a lesson we were taught along the lines of love thy neighbor. This parable was told by Jesus to answer the question of who thy neighbor is. Basically, this story went that a man was beaten, stripped and left dying on the side of the road. A priest, a man of the cloth, passed him and failed to help. Then a Levit passed him by and did the same thing. Neither stopped to help the dying man. Then a Samaritan came by. The Samaritan stopped and gave the man the help he needed. The Samaritan didn't care about the man’s religion, race, sexual orientation or social status. He didn't ask him these things before offering to help. He simply saw a man in need and helped him. The Samaritan, as the hero in the story, was a shock to Jesus’s audience because they and the Jews were thought to despise each other. He was considered the least likely person to offer help. This story had a great impact on me as a child. It helped to teach me acceptance and compassion for my fellow man. Those were key factors I wanted to associate with religion, acceptance and compassion. But as the days go by, it feels like those ideals have become lost in the hunt for the self-preservation of one’s religious beliefs.
I will never understand how people who are supposed to be the following the teachings of a man, who was believed to treat everyone as an equal, can go so far to push non-followers away. These are the same teachings that instilled me the passion that I feel in making sure that everyone is treated fairly. The passion that demands that we should be spreading LOVE not hate into the world. I, myself, will to the best of my ability fight for equality for all. As a mother, my job is to also ensure that my children look on everyone as the people they are and not to look only for their differences. I dream of a world in which we all stop using those differences as an excuse to treat others poorly. A world where LOVE is promoted, not hate. Even though I know a Utopian society seems far fetched, I will always dream that one day we will as a human race learn to overlook the things that separate us. A day when things such as race, gender, sexual preference and social status will fall away and we will simply be humans. Take care my friends and LOVE on.
Sources: www.cnn.com/2015/04/01/politics/indiana-religion-law-text/ ; wikipedia