If you tuned into the news or browsed social media over the past few weeks, you may have been led to believe that the state of Indiana legalized unjust discrimination or passed an oppressive law that denies a group of individuals various rights.
The law in question, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, gives an individual a defense in court if he or she believes his or her religious freedom is being violated. It’s not only for Christians and it doesn’t give anyone the right to discriminate. More than 20 states and the federal government live under this standard.
But unsurprisingly, activists have recently been perpetuating a false narrative about these laws that protect religious freedom. With their fear-mongering tactics, they bullied Indiana Governor Mike Pence into signing a watered-down version of the state’s religious freedom law and targeted people with whom they disagree.
RFRA laws just say if the government is going to substantially burden religious exercise, it must prove it has a compelling interest to do so and must do so in the least restrictive way. It seems that liberal activists are not enraged because this law unjustly targets homosexuals, since it demonstrably doesn’t, but rather because RFRA acknowledges that individuals are allowed to express religious beliefs that may be opposed to their own.
The “tolerant and open-minded” crowd has acted neither tolerant nor open-minded in the debate about this law. Ask Crystal and Kevin O’Connor, the owners of Memories Pizza, a now shut down Indiana pizza company, if the left is tolerant or open-minded. The O’Connors endured harassment and death threats after they simply stated they would not cater a gay wedding. Never mind that Memories Pizza has stated they have never catered any wedding before, nor would they ever deny anyone regular service because of sexual orientation.
The distortions about Indiana’s RFRA have been a shameful disgrace. Both the media and the left have perpetuated the narrative that this law “legalizes discrimination” and allows “hate” in businesses, painting the law’s supporters as enemies of “progress.” There hasn’t been any room for reasoned discussion or public discourse.
Because the O’Connors merely expressed a belief that was contrary to the prevailing liberal orthodoxies, the left rallied to ruin their lives. Leftists don’t tolerate any dissent from their agenda. Express an opinion they don’t like and they’ll surely try to silence you or smear your name.
Today, if you believe children have a natural right to know and be loved by both their mother and their father in the union of marriage, the left wants you to be quiet. If you hold a belief that they don’t, the left will label you a bigot and mobilize to vilify you. They will do whatever they can to shut you down.
Leftists want to shut down dissent so that they can impose their agenda on the country, stripping people who disagree with them of their voice. If you disagree with liberals, you can count on them to mercilessly attack you.
Joe Puchner is a sophomore majoring in mathematics and Spanish. His column runs biweekly.
