It’s taken a month for the Republican Party to come up with an official response to the Orlando Massacre. They took an ever so brief timeout from hating, Blacks, Latinos,Women. the poor, etc., to focus their hatred on the LGBT community.
One month ago on Tuesday, a gunman shot and killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. House Republicans plan to mark this milestone with a hearing on a bill that would enable widespread discrimination against LGBT people. The legislation, ironically named the “First Amendment Defense Act” (FADA) rests on the idea that discrimination should be excused when it is justified by religion.
On Tuesday, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform plans to consider FADA. The anti-LGBT bill has 171 different co-sponsors, nearly all of them Republicans.
By its own explicit terms, FADA grants special rights to individuals with a “religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage.” In that sense, it closely resembles a Mississippi law that a federal judge halted earlier this month, in part because it extends special treatment to individuals with anti-LGBT religious beliefs.
Under, the core provision of FADA “the Federal Government shall not take any discriminatory action against a person, wholly or partially on the basis that such person believes or acts in accordance with” a religious objection to marriage equality or a faith-based belief that sexual relations must be reserved to a marriage between people of the opposite sex. Subsequent provisions define the term “discriminatory action” to include a broad range of sanctions against religious objectors who themselves engage in discrimination. The government cannot deny tax subsidies to religious objectors who discriminate against LGBT people, or deny them a grant or benefit, or, under a catch-all provision, “otherwise discriminate against such person.”… [emphasis added]
From <Think Progress>
Photo Credit: The Great American Disconnect
Essentially this proposal would codify allowing the right to religious beliefs of one person to take precedence over the Constitutional rights of another person, but only if the beliefs, upon which hateful discrimination is based, are the beliefs of Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians, the polar opposite of authentic Christians. As such, it seeks to establish pseudo-Christianity as a state religion, a clear violation of the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment.
Of the 171 co-sponsors of this hateful garbage, I could find only one Democrat. He is Rep. Daniel Lepinski [DINO-IL]. If you’re an Illinoisan, especially from the 3rd Congressional District, would you please give this Trump Humping DINO a call and tear him a new one?
20 Responses to “Republicans Move to Legalize Hate”
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Let us hope love will conquer hate.
Geesh, It gets worse and worse, doesn't it? I am passing this on to friends to get the word out. Ugh! this is scary, and sickening. Texas is always looking for ways to hinder our gay community, with discrimination, all in the name of religion. WWJD? He'd be crying.
Thanks, Tom.
Care2 had a pro blogger address this event this morning also. One of the members there made a profound remark that the Constitution guarantees Freedom of Religion, NOT religious freedom, and that they are not the same. This bill illustrates that by attempting to give certain people the "religious freedom" to hate and discriminate, and in doing so knocks Freedom of Religion right out into the stratosphere. It's like the "how to tell if your religious liberties are being vioated" chart (which seems to be all over the internet)
Chart only: http://wp.production.patheos.com/blogs/exploringourmatrix/files/2015/03/Religious-Liberties-Violated.jpg
Chart in an article: http://reverbpress.com/news/were-religious-liberties-violated/
Knowing the time the American Constitution was written in (The Age of Enlightenment) and how many of its draughtsmen were trying to free people from oppressive institutionalized religion, it could be argued that their intent was to have the Constitution guarantee Freedom FROM Religion as much as Freedom of Religion.
Good point.
It was freedom to worship without a mandate of how or whether to worship. Mast were Deists.
They're kidding…please tell me they're kidding. The country is in bloody turmoil with one shooting after the other, overt racism in all layers of society, Islamophobia on the rise, misogyny becoming second nature in many states…people taking to the street and tension rising and what do the Republicans in Congress come up with? A gun control bill? Or perhaps reaching across the isle to try and close the political abyss a little, trying to move the country forward instead of backward? No, they come up with a bill to legalize discrimination; a bill of hate and self-serving religious bigotry.
I know these are the convulsions of a dying party, a party that has done nothing in the past eight years that made any sense or brought the country forward, a party that is now completely incapable of doing anything positive, a party that can only unite its members behind some unconstitutional fringe bill that only the extremists in their base want. It'll never make it to law, Obama will not sign it, Hillary will not sign it, even this SCOTUS will not allow it because it's unconstitutional…but the Republicans saw fit to put it forward now, before rigor mortis sets in. It's disgusting and it's shameful and the only place for this bill is the garbage heap, together with what's left of the GOP.
AMEN!!!
AMEN!!!
When it comes to the GOP's ridiculous – and unconstitutional – attempts to
protectimpose THEIR "religious freedom" on others I always immediately think how great it'd be to …[1] Have a Quaker run the city/county office that issues gun permits – and then REFUSE to do so based on "Religious Freedom"
[2] Have an Amish person in charge of the DMV – and then REFUSE to issue all driver's liceses based on "Religious Freedom"
It's never been about "religious freedom" – it's about them wanting to force their Talibangelical christianists dogma on eveyone else.
AMEN!!!
AMEN!!!
One item appears to be missing from this list of hate: Muslims.
The GOP/TP people are very sick and must be excised from politics as they are not fit to be members of any political organization, much less in Congress.
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I didn't think they could get any meaner or spiteful, but I was wrong. I agree with Lona, no Democrat will sign this bill, but it will make the Repugs who signed it get points with their bigoted supporters. I wish even a few of our fellow citizens understood our constitution as well as Lona and Lynn.
Ine DINO did.
What would George Washington or any of the Founding Fathers think of how they are butchering the Constitution? I thought the people that founded America came here to have religious FREEEDOM, not be bound by the laws made up to take those freedoms away!!!
Freedom of religion, not religious freedom. Religious freedom seem s to be what includes the pushiness. Although, I take it back for one group – the Pilgrims did want religious freedom and NOT freedom of religion. They were – umm – encouraged to move on from England because they were too pushy.
Thew Pilgrims came for the freedom to impose their religion on the community.
This is so tragic!
Republicans supporting this BS are the fallen angel . . . the original fallen angel.
"…because of the provision protecting religious objectors who believe that “sexual relations are properly reserved to” opposite sex marriages, FADA also grants a broad array of special rights to people who target many straight couples."
What is also interesting is that this so called law would appear to outlaw pre-marital sex, and philandering . . . even by family values Republicans. Oh the horrors! I wonder if they understand that?
My rights end at the end of my nose, just as your rights end at the end of your nose. All are equal!
This is absolutely one of the very most disgusting things ever and with the Republicans, that's saying a lot.
Any religion that allows such hatred is no religion in my book. Makes me want to squash every one of these numnutts like the despicable insects they are….