Indiana is currently in the midst of a national uproar over it’s Religious Freedom Restoration
Act.
Major state politicians, LGBT groups, and tech companies have all spoken out against
the bill, saying it will lead to discriminations against gays and lesbians in the name of religion.
So what’s going on?
How much religious freedom do we have in the US?
And does this bill protect that or is it just discriminatory?
So, first amendment things, first.
American citizens are guaranteed freedom of religion, expression, assembly, and the right
to petition.
That’s at the CORE of this entire country’s political system.
But over the years, asterisks have been added to this principle.
Like - you don’t have the freedom to yell “fire” in a crowded theatre.
And, in terms of religious freedom - after a landmark 1878 Supreme Court case, the Chief
Justice declared that you can’t express your religion at the cost of “social duties”
and “good order”.
Okay, so human sacrifices are out, but what about refusing to work on Saturdays because
it’s against your religion?
Or choosing to withdraw your children from school due to religious conflicts?
A number of supreme court cases in the last century focused on narrowing the gray area
of legally-acceptable religious freedoms.
Many cases hinged on something called “compelling interest”.
This means that if the government doesn’t have a strong constitutional reason to protect
the public’s interests, then any interference in an individual’s religious practices could
be deemed unconstitutional.
The 1993 FEDERAL Religious Freedom Restoration Act reflected this sentiment.
It was passed following two lawsuits publicly considered to unnecessarily violate the religious
rights of Native Americans.
It said that even though a law is religiously neutral, it can still have a negative effect
or “burden” on religious practices.
So the RFRA clarified that a law may only constitutionally “burden” one’s religious
practices when doing so both advances a compelling government interest, and there is no “less
restrictive” way to do so.
However, the law did provide legal standing for unintended forms of discrimination.
Take for instance, the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court Case from 2014, wherein a company refused
to offer their employees birth control on religious grounds.
Based on the argument that corporations can be considered “people” due to an earlier
Supreme Court ruling, the government wasn’t allowed to significantly burden the company's
religious practices, and upheld their refusal.
Similarly, Indiana’s recent passage of their own Religious Freedom Restoration Act has
been especially incendiary for fear that it could allow businesses the right to discriminate
against gay people in the face of a looming landmark Supreme Court decision regarding
same sex marriage.
So, is Indiana’s new religious freedom act discriminatory?
Experts say yes; in its current form, the law could be used to discriminate on the basis
of religious freedom.
There are quite a few other places across America that have no legal protection from
discrimination for the LGBT community.
To learn about this issue in more detail, watch our video here.
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