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The greatest threat to religious freedom: the religious right

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Dear Editor:

For three successive years our legislature has devoted considerable time, energy and resources in their attempt to pass into law what is commonly referred to as a “religious freedom bill.” This year a bill was finally submitted to Governor Deal. Much to the displeasure of the religious right Governor Deal vetoed the bill. In so doing he set forth his reasons in some depth and a transcript as well as a video of his announcement is on the internet. Before criticizing him I urge your readers to afford our Governor the courtesy of understanding his reasons for vetoing this bill and read the transcript or review the film footage.

Governor Deal, in exercising his veto power, followed in the footsteps of Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona, one of the most conservative Republican governors in the country. While governor, Governor Brewer was confronted with a situation similar to that with which Governor Deal was confronted. The Arizona legislature passed a religious freedom bill similar to that of Georgia and Governor Brewer was faced with the decision of whether to veto or sign the bill. After careful consideration, Governor Brewer, like Governor Deal, concluded that the bill was not in the best interests of the citizens of her state and vetoed the bill. In so doing Governor Brewer expressed some of the same concerns as those expressed by Governor Deal.

While Governor Deal was sharply criticized by many members of the religious right for vetoing the bill, many other citizens and groups praised his veto; among them, Senator Johnny Isakson who  issued a statement supporting Governor Deal and declaring, “I think the Governor  did the right thing.” The response of the religious right was predictable. If a politician does not submit to their every demand then they personally attack him and issue threats. This is what the religious right did in the case of Governor Deal.

Unfortunately, the general public, particularly in our part of the state, has never been afforded a real opportunity to objectively evaluate the bill in view of the misinformation promulgated by the religious right about the bill. As an example of the  misinformation to which I refer is the claim made by the religious right that the Georgia bill was just about protecting the free exercise of religion by pastors. In fact Gerald Harris, editor of the Georgia Baptist Christian Index, in his statement criticizing Governor Deal for his veto, declares  this to be the very purpose of the bill. This is just simply a blatant misrepresentation as is readily apparent to anyone who spends a minimum amount of time looking into the actual bill.

The truth is that the bill was never intended to be an objective and thoughtful attempt to protect religious freedom. Rather, the intent of the bill was  to stoke the emotions of the religious right’s  base and to impose their religious agenda upon all of the people of Georgia and to use the state government as a means to accomplish this. It is clear upon careful analysis that the bill was absolutely unnecessary. Pastors and people of faith, in this state and throughout our country, are protected in the free exercise of their faith by the First Amendment. Situations such as the wedding cake incident are unique to those states in which the incidents occurred as those states have specific laws that come into play and these situations  have nothing to do with the free exercise of religion, all of which is explained by Governor Deal in his comments.

The leadership of the religious right, however,  knows that one way to control the masses is by fear and anger and they take every opportunity to incite our citizens and to wrongly encourage the idea that important rights are being taken from them whether it be the right to freely exercise their faith, the right to bear arms, etc. Hate, anger and division are common threads to the efforts of the religious right upon which they thrive and rely to fill pews and which many rely upon to justify their jobs.

The truth is that an objective and constitutional religious freedom bill, if indeed that is what was sought, could have been passed and signed had the situation not been so badly mishandled by the bill’s sponsors and proponents and had they not wanted to include provisions that basically would have allowed state sanctioned discrimination.

In his comments Governor Deal in fact points out that he was fine with the bill that came from the house. However, as the Senate modified the bill he then concluded he could not sign it. Let me say that if the sponsors and proponents wanted to pass a fair and constitutional bill then the first thing that should have been done is that those seeking passage should have consulted with the the leading expert in this field, The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty in Washington, D.C. This group is the only faith-based agency devoted solely to religious liberty and the institutional separation of church and state. It is often involved in litigation involving freedom of religion issues and has generated work  relied upon by the Supreme Court in it’s consideration of First Amendment decisions. It is a group well-known to the religious right and sponsors and proponents of the bill. This group could have helped steer any legislation, if such was in fact deemed necessary, through our legislature and could have virtually assured that such legislation was constitutional. The fact that this group was not consulted tells me the sponsors and proponents had no intention of assuring that any bill was fair, was necessary and would be in keeping with the constitution.

The second thing the sponsors and proponents should have done is to  take steps to involve the business community instead of alienating them. With a good bill and the right approach I submit much of the business opposition could have been tamped down. Instead they alienated the business community and put thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of revenue at risk simply because it had to be their way.

Thirdly,  the bills and the “cause” has simply had the wrong point man, namely Senator Josh McKoon of Columbus, Georgia.

Our representative, Dominic La Riccia, expressed disappointment  with the Governor’s veto.  In recent comments to The Douglas Enterprise Mr. La Riccia stated that “…people of faith and more specifically Christians are the most discriminated against group of people in the state and nation….”  The use of this type of language, which we have come to see all too often in our political discourse, is most unfortunate. It is demeaning to our country and is misleading and inflammatory. Simply because the Governor and others do not acquiesce to every demand of the religious right does not mean they have been discriminated against. It could very well mean that their position is simply not sound and in the best interest of all our citizens. Further,   Mr. La Ricca’s statement is simply not true if he is in fact  referring to governmental discrimination, which I believe he is.

Our country provides the greatest freedoms and protections for religious freedom of any country in the world. That freedom is just as real and in play today as it ever has been. This complete lack of any factual support for Mr. La Riccia’s claim is also addressed by Governor Deal in his comments and was in fact a reason for his decision. 

On the other hand, if Mr. La Ricca is not referring to governmental discrimination but to discrimination by private groups  then I think he has a point for it is true that there  is no greater present threat to our religious freedom than that posed by the religious right. They seek to impose their religious views on all and by every means including the legislature. If there is resistance to their efforts the person resisting is often maligned, threatened and hated. This effort to oppress and control by the religious right has been clearly demonstrated by their attitude of intolerance toward other faiths and minorities. Their hatred of Catholics has been known for years.  The Pope is referred to by pastors and members alike as the anti-christ and they charge that they worship Mary and Catholics are not Christian.  Such hatred and intolerance has also been manifested toward Mormons and Jews as well.

During the last Presidential election cycle my mother came home in disbelief at what she had heard in morning worship in her Southern Baptist church home. A guest speaker stood in the pulpit and declared that it was a sad day when America’s choice for President was a Mormon and a Muslim. This was hurtful for number of reasons including the fact that her brother and his family are Mormons. The SBC held their convention in Salt Lake City one year for the sole purpose of evangelizing Mormons. We will also recall that Pastor Robert Jeffress, a Baptist pastor of one of the largest Baptist churches, declared during the last election that he could not support Mr. Romney since he was a Mormon and Mormonism is a cult and Mormons are not Christians, according to Mr. Jeffress. This is a view shared by many of the religious right. The hateful views of other faiths held by the religious right  including those of  Seventh Day Adventist, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc. are well known. 

Senator Barry Goldwater was known as “Mr. Conservative.” He recognized the danger posed by the religious right many years ago. Here are just some of his observations:

“…The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with loss of money or votes or both. I am frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across the country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person I must believe “A,” “B,” “C,” and “D.” Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted  right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of “conservatism.”

In further comments Senator Goldwater got even more specific about the danger presented by the religious right: “Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the (Republican) party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn thing. Frankly, these people frighten me….Religious factions will go on imposing their will on others unless the decent people connected to them recognize that religion has no place in public policy. They must learn to make their views known without trying to make their views the only alternatives.”

It is the religious right that presently poses the single greatest threat to our religious freedom. They spent three years and divided our state over a bill  that did not add anything in the way of protecting religious freedom. They ran the risk of  losing thousands of jobs and billions of dollars so that they might have state sanctioned discrimination.The sole purpose of the legislation was to provide a state sanctioned way for Georgians to discriminate against anybody for any reason so long as they declared that they were doing so because to do otherwise would “be against my religious beliefs.”

Governor Deal was right when he stated, ”As I’ve said before, I do not think we have to discriminate against anyone to protect the faith-based community in Georgia of which my family and I are a part of for all our lives.” He was right in vetoing the bill.

I realize in writing this letter I am running the risk of criticism. However, the very fact that I have such a concern and may not feel free to express my views is further evidence of the oppressive effect  that the religious right has upon religious and political discourse in our part of the country.

The time has come where our all of our citizens should be free to publicly discuss important issues without the fear of repercussions or even retaliation. The diverse views of all our citizens whether political or religious are worthy of respect and should be deemed so by every citizen. This is what the First Amendment is about. 

I know there are many good people in our state and county who do not agree with the religious right but are concerned about voicing their opposition. I hope they will be encouraged. I am a seventh generation Georgian and love my county, my state and my country. However, like Senator Goldwater I am “sick and tired” of the religious right thinking they have some God-granted right to dictate to me and other good people of Georgia those things they require of us in order for us to be deemed moral persons and Christians and to arrogantly seek to impose their religious views upon others by using our legislature.

I would submit it is time for the religious right to let the legislators do their job and for the religious right to concentrate on doing the work of Christians as taught by Christ. I would also respectfully submit like the Archbishop in Atlanta has so wonderfully stated: “…more than continually revising legislative language, (the general well-being of the state requires that we) focus on greater compassion and mercy so that every individual can develop his or her full potential.”

Jim Hudson, Sr.
P.O. Box 287
Broxton, Ga. 31519

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