“Religious Freedom Restoration Act" Amok

a major award

“ TRUTH ALA CARTE Hostility to Tradition In the nineties, the Clinton Administration formed a bipartisan coalition to pass the federal “Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” or “RFRA.” Nineteen states followed suit. The legislation came in response to a Supreme Court decision that had seen an American Indian suffer legally for having used a drug during a well established American Indian religious ceremony. Religious freedom is enshrined in the first amendment to the American constitution. The American left, increasingly hostile to any values, has made a decision to impose their lack of values on America. Dissent was patriotic when George Bush was President. Now that the left feels completely in control all dissent must be stamped out ruthlessly. RFRA’s framework was common sense. “Under RFRA the government may not substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion unless it can demonstrate that the burden is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest, and it is the least restrictive means of advancing a compelling interest.” See Perez v. Paragon Contractors (2014, Dist. Ct. Utah). The standard was hailed as fair and appropriate by Democrats and by Republicans. Nineteen states followed the federal government. From Connecticut to Florida to Arizona, states found a bipartisan consensus that the sincerely held faith based beliefs of individuals deserved encroachment from the federal government. This bipartisan consensus has rapidly collapsed in the United States. It began with Hobby Lobby. The company is a closely held corporation run by a family. The family intended to run its business based on its Christian values. The employees are paid more than employees at competitors. The store hours are not as long so employees can go home to their families. The store closes on Sundays to honor the Sabbath and give employees a day off. But Hobby Lobby also designs its healthcare plans to reflect its values. It covers birth control for female employees, but its health care plan would not cover the costs of drugs classified as abortifacients, or drugs that induce an abortion. It would not cover the cost of abortions. The Obama Administration ordered the company to do so and then, as a compromise, ordered the company to give money to other organizations that would then provide the abortifacients. Hobby Lobby sued and won in the United States Supreme Court. The Court held that under RFRA, the Obama Administration had already shown through various exemptions and alternatives that it had not used the least restrictive means to accomplish its goals. Where RFRA once had bipartisan support, it is now opposed by the left. Compounding the problem is the march for gay marriage. In multiple states around the country, gay activists have tried to force Christian bakers, florists, photographers, wedding planners, and others to provide goods and services against their religious convictions to gay weddings. In states without RFRA, the Christians who have refused have been dragged before courts and punished. Some will be driven from business. Liberals were happy with religious conviction when it allowed drug use.  [continue] “Our acceptance of lies becomes a cultural cancer that eventually shrouds and reorders reality until moral garbage becomes as invisible to us as water is to a fish.” ― Stephanie Ericsson ”