What Do You Think Of The Religious Freedom Restoration Act Bill?

Gobbledegook and nonsense.

 

Fortunately, a strong legal / judicial precedent has already been established that freedom of religion includes freedom FROM religion, and that will not be easily overturned.

 

Here's another good article on the subject.


It's been pointed out that

However, there is one detail being overlooked in this entire conversation – one that may be of particular interest to Georgia’s Pagans and others practicing minority religions. The proposed bill references “Paragraphs III and IV of Section I, 19 Article I” of the Georgia constitution as the marker of the state’s religious freedom laws.This portion of the constitution reads, “Each person has the natural and inalienable right to worship God…”
Because of its open-ended language, SB129 actually nullifies that particular criteria. It defines the “Exercise of Religion” as “including but not limited to the practice or observance of religion under Paragraphs III and IV of Section I, Article I of the Constitution…” In other words, while the new bill may open doors to discriminatory behavior, abuse and similar stated issues, it also appears to be serving to undermine a section of Georgia’s state constitution that is, in the end, problematic itself.

The Georgia House is scheduled to vote on SB129 on April 2.

- See more at: http://wildhunt.org/2015/03/wiccans-enter-the-rfra-public-debate-in-georgia.html#sthash.P6faACfu.hBpWbDfa.dpuf

My friend, High Priest Dusty Dionne of the ATC elaborates a bit more

If the bill goes through, this will be part of what we will be coaching Wiccans to accept as part of their rights, and then we will start dealing with winning the court cases, and that will cement our rights. Change can be made, and if they give us a framework of law that they think is going to give them exclusive religious rights, then what we are going to do is set our beliefs into that framework, and we legally should have the same expansion of our rights. - See more at: http://wildhunt.org/2015/03/wiccans-enter-the-rfra-public-debate-in-georgia.html#sthash.P6faACfu.hBpWbDfa.dpuf

And of course, Sir Elton John has lent his weight to the topic, being an Atlanta resident.

 

Yup .... and there's also "equality before the law" ....

Religious Freedom Restoration Act .... as if until now there was no religious freedom in Georgia.

 

i like the idea of having full control of my business and having the choice to refuse service to anyone for any reason, but i would draw the line with things like schools, hospitals and that kinda stuff.

 

I'd like the idea of businesses posting their bigotry. Then I'd know not to spend my money there.

 

i would never support racism or religious discrimination but as a business person, i would like to have full control of my business. i dont want to be forced to serve anyone ever for any reason. and i would like the freedom to tell whoever i want to get the fuck out of my business for any reason i want. its my business, my rules. if people choose to use this power to discriminate, then their business will suffer because of smart consumers like you.

 

bigotry of this type gives "religion" a bad name.

 

Then you shouldn't be a business owner. By opening a business to the public, you voluntarily give up certain individual rights. It isn't your house.

That's been tried, and it didn't work. White southerners rewarded restaurants and motels that DID discriminate against black people. All businesses felt pressured to follow their lead.

Oh, this post is the highlight of my day! I'm going to enjoy visualizing a thousand different fantasy scenarios.

 

slave/master mentality ...Nietsche....I would never be a slave or a master.....as i think in order for anything to come together, it must be symbiotic....and if not....then it is not meant to be...i am the master of my own thoughtsand my own life, though.....

 

i guess this is where we disagree. my business my house. dont like it? you have the freedom to go somewhere else.

and i dont open my business to the public. i choose to do business with certain people that i choose and thats that. if i dont like you, i should not be forced to do business with you.

 

so in tieing what I said in previous post to religion...it is that religion forces one into slave mentality, imo.

 

I don't know about extending in to traffic laws.

I'm certainly interested in the discussion of what a private business owner has the right to do, though.

 

That doesn't work either. If every motel and hotel and restaurant in a town decides not to serve black people, that leaves black travelers sleeping in their cars, without food or toilets. It used to be nearly impossible for black Southerners to travel.

Sorry, but the Civil Rights Act of 1964 flushed your approach down the toilet, hopefully forever.

That's a somewhat nonstandard type of business. My main business is like that too; no direct dealings with the general public, but that doesn't mean my clients don't have any legal rights. What kind of a country would that be? Not very civilized or professional. We can do better than that. We can hold each other to higher standards.

 

Here's a sign from the rally yesterday that my friend put up in a local pub.

 

just when i thought society was making progress ... tsk tsk

some people dont like progress it seems

 

You're right. They don't; and they all live in Georgia.

 

Unfortunately, there's enough of them around to mess up a lot of different places.