RFRA Realities

All right, all right.  Everybody just calm down for a moment and take a deep breath!  Panic and histrionics aren’t going to get us anywhere.

As most everyone knows, last week Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law.  Is it an odious and ill-conceived piece of legislation?  Without a doubt.  People are up in arms and rightfully so but there are some very important points that are being overlooked in all the rhetoric and I want to talk about those points.

First, l’d like to do something that a lot of people (including my friends) will consider heretical.  Let’s take the LGBT community out of the equation.  Yes, they’re human beings and deserve the same rights and respect as anyone else but this law doesn’t change a thing in regards to them.  It was always legal in Indiana to discriminate against them, except in certain municipalities where local ordinances said otherwise.  No one needed this law to do that.  So while I appreciate the righteous indignation of celebrities like Audra MacDonald, Keith Olberman and George Takei, and corporate citizens like GenCon, SalesForce and the NCAA, they’re not helping and I’ll get back to them a bit later.

Now, let’s look at what this law will do that hasn’t been legal before.  My family doctor (whom I adore!) is Catholic and I’m not even nominally Christian.  This law would allow him to say he will no longer provide care for me because of his religious beliefs.  Do I think that would happen?  No, because I know he’s a fair-minded gentleman and my off-beat sense of humor entertains him.  But his practice is part of a large Catholic healthcare system and yes, they could deny me service.  Would they?  Based on previous treatment I’ve received from them, I believe that’s possible.  Remember, Notre Dame University was one of the loudest voices complaining that the Affordable Healthcare Act mandated their medical insurance provide birth control coverage.  

You think we had a problem before with people not vaccinating their children?  Think about how many people will opt out now because of their “deeply held religious beliefs”.  Yes, the state could say it has a compelling interest in preventing epidemics and require vaccinations for children to attend public schools but they haven’t shown any inkling of doing that yet.  Additionally private schools would be exempt and if you think that children only associate with children they go to school with, then you’ve never spent time around children.

Several years ago some friends of mine divorced.  It was the classic no-fault, irreconcilable differences situation.  One thing that was not a in dispute, however, was their desire for their child to be raised in their shared religious faith.  This wouldn’t have been a problem except for the magistrate handling the case.  Her religious views were different and she felt that her opinion was superior to those of the parents and tried to prohibit them from raising their child as they saw fit.  The ACLU intervened and eventually the case was settled in favor of the parents.  But under this law things might have been very different.

With the passage of the RFRA, police, firefighters and EMTs could not be compelled to protect/treat the very citizens whose taxes pay their salaries.  Pharmacists could refuse to dispense drugs that are deemed medically necessary by a physician.  Governor Pence said this law doesn’t endorse discrimination but the very people he invited to attend the bill signing ceremony are saying that it does.  And these examples are just that.  Discrimination by someone whose beliefs are different than the people they serve.  

There is now a push for the legislature to “provide clarity” on this law.  In particular there are those who say wording specifically denying discrimination on the basis of sexual preference or gender identity is what’s needed.  That’s all well and good but it doesn’t go nearly far enough.  It doesn’t protect the woman whose husband claims his religious faith gives him the right to beat her.  It doesn’t protect children whose parents proclaim the biblical “spare the rod and spoil the child” form of discipline.  It doesn’t help women looking for reproductive health care who run afoul of a health care provider’s deeply held religious beliefs.  No, we don’t need “clarity”.  We need the law repealed.

Now back to those unhelpful people/companies who advocate that everyone boycott the state?  Sounds wonderful but who are you really hurting when you do this?  Well, you’re not just hurting the bigots.  You’re hurting those of us who live here and and work for equality.  And mostly you’re hurting the large urban centers where a great deal of the  work for equality (for everyone) is being done.  #BoycottIndiana?  Unrealistic.  Not everyone who disagrees with this law can just up and move elsewhere.  “Hit ‘em in the wallet!” sounds great but be aware whose wallets you’re hitting.  Better idea?  Come to Indiana and patronize the businesses that promote inclusivity.   Then tell others so they can patronize them too.  Put it on social media and use the hashtag #inmyIndiana  It’s been my experience that there isn’t a huge number of people or businesses which practice discrimination.

And so once again, I’m asking everyone to take a deep breath and a step back.  Watch carefully to see how this all shakes out.  Continue to call out the parties who passed this shameful bill and the governor who signed it.  Remember them when they stand for re-election next year.  Boycott the businesses who support them and their campaigns.  

Already awareness has been raised that there are a lot of very vocal people who will call out those who use this law to discriminate and people/businesses will respond accordingly.  There is a popular meme that says “if you don’t like gay marriage, don’t get one.”  I’d like to add that if you don’t like bigots, refuse to associate with them. Then go out and tell everyone else who they are so we can avoid them too.