“Religion Bill Ok’d.”
That was the newspaper headline last Friday in the Arizona Republic. It seems Christian conservatives there wanted the right to discriminate against gays and lesbians and got the legislature to agree with them.
It’s not about discrimination, they say. It’s about protecting the religious freedom of businesses to refuse service to anyone whose life or behavior is morally objectionable to them.
This brings back a lot of memories of southern segregation days when the same argument was used to defend businesses that wanted to discriminate against blacks. “It’s my business,” racist business owners insisted, “and I should have the right to serve who I want to.”
Many Christians supported this view back then.
Times haven’t changed much.
I have no doubts the courts will bring an end to this new form of discrimination, just as they did in the 60’s.
But the image of Christianity that these foolish Christians are tarnishing will be long lasting. Nothing like identifying being a Christian with supporting discrimination.
Apparently it doesn’t bother these people that studies have confirmed that there is an unequivocal relationship between this kind of Christian Right politics and the rise in the percentage of young adults who are dropping out of religion.
More than a few older adults feel the same way. They are tired of people trying to turn our nation into a Christian theocracy. They believe in the right of anyone to believe whatever they want to. They just don’t want that to be the basis for public policy.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again. When religion and politics mix, politics will always – I mean always – eventually chew up religion and spit it out, but the damage done to religion is long lasting.
Which makes me think that with friends like the Christian Right, religion doesn’t need any enemies.
linnposts.com 
AMEN!!!!!!
I live in AZ and strongly hope that the Gov will veto this ridiculous piece of hate legislation. If she doesn’t, I think it will certainly go to the courts, where I hope rational thinking will prevail and overturn this abomination.
PS: I think that when religion & politics mix, BOTH religion & politics are damaged.
This new AZ law is absolutely disgusting and I’m a United Church of Christ clergyman. I hope the courts will eliminate it.
The wisdom of the forefathers in separating church and state on display once again. What a keen sense of human nature they had for creating checks and balances like that. And, how tragic is it that the overarching wisdom of that kind of thinking is so quickly discarded by an assertive minority who’s self-righteous arrogance blinds them to the value of balance; who care so little about a fellow… “other”. Frustrating!
Reading these comments it strikes me as ironic that although the Church of England (to which I belong) is still the officially established Church in England (not the whole UK), whose Supreme Governor is Her Majesty the Queen, we’re no longer the sole voice of Christianity Britain. Some people I’ve known would like to go down that path of theocracy you mentioned, Jan, but the biggest single barrier to this will be the nature of us English, which is mostly to be apathetic. As Tony Blair’s Press Secretary once put it: “We don’t do God”