Legislating to legalize discrimination?
By Jim Surber

Something happened in Arizona this past Thursday that should make us all think. On party-line votes, both houses of the state’s legislature passed a bill that must be either signed or vetoed before this coming Friday by the Governor, who is a member of the same party as the successful lawmakers.

The bill, SB 1062, is designed to bolster a business owner’s right to refuse service to gays and others if the owner believes providing service violates the practice and observance of his or her religion.

Opponents of the bill describe it as unconstitutional, discriminatory and divisive. They say it’s another black eye for Arizona, which is still trying to recover from the repercussions of SB 1070, the immigration bill that Governor Brewer signed into law in 2010.

Proponents of SB 1062 say the bill is being misrepresented. They maintain that it’s not a discriminatory bill but instead is intended to protect religious freedom — rights that “must be respected,” said Republican Sen. Steve Yarbrough, who introduced the legislation.

If the measure becomes law, any business owner will be legally able to turn away any customer as long as he contends that serving or doing business with that individual would violate the practice and observance of his or her religion.

Among other things, the law would expand the current definition of religion to include both the practice and observance of religion. It also expands the definition of “person” to include any individual, association, partnership, corporation, church, estate, trust, foundation or other legal entity.

It also specifies that a free-exercise-of-religion claim or defense may be asserted in a judicial proceeding regardless of whether the government is a party to the proceeding.

The bill also includes a provision that it does not matter if the particular belief is “compulsory or central to a larger system of religious belief.”

That would seem to make it pretty wide-open.

The first question that comes to mind is, if this measure becomes law can any owner, who wants to discriminate against anybody, need only to claim conflict with his or her religious beliefs to be in full compliance with the law? At this time, the answer appears to be “Yes.”

The second question would be, must the conflict be with a widely understood tenet or teaching of a recognized religion, or could it be some belief or revulsion unique to the individual? This is also clearly answered, and would seem to apply to any established or even made-up religion.

As expected, the bill’s passage has drawn fire from gays, civil rights groups, and protests from business owners. The most noteworthy and creative protest was a prominent sign placed by the owner of a Tucson pizzeria proclaiming, “We reserve the right to refuse service to Arizona legislators.”

It was reported that the restaurant owner Anthony DiGrazia, said, “Opening the door to government-sanctioned discrimination, regardless of why, is a huge step in the wrong direction.”

A check of news sources shows that similar bills have been recently introduced in at least ten other states. Reportedly, the proposals put forth in Ohio, Nevada and South Dakota openly specified that the reason was so conservative fundamentalists could discriminate against gays and lesbians. At this time, all three of these measures appear to be dead.

I am sure that opinions on this Arizona bill will be sharply divided. There is no argument that religious freedom and the unhindered practice of one’s chosen religion is constitutionally guaranteed, as well it should be

But two thoughts immediately come to anyone with a moderately suspicious mind.

First, it seems very odd that most modern-day businessmen would want to shun paying customers. It also seems ironic and inconsistent that legalizing the practice of discrimination or bigotry would be attractive to any true follower of New Testament Christianity.

In line with the first thought, it is reported that the Greater Phoenix Economic Council has urged the Governor to veto the bill, and that four companies have threatened to leave Arizona if it is signed into law. “If the legislation becomes law,” the group said, “it will likely have profound negative effects on our business community for years to come.”

As to the second thought, we should ask ourselves if this type of legislation, proposed all around the nation, springs from a groundswell of honest, god-fearing citizens? Or is it simply an organized ploy of very less-than-honorable hacks who are using religion as an excuse to advance a political agenda?

Would passage of this legislation be a giant step toward doing something that many on the far-right have been itching to do since the passage of civil rights bills fifty years ago; that being to repeal them? Would those who continually say they despise government control, make it this much greater?

While I am certainly not qualified to make any legal interpretation, at first glance the Arizona bill would seem to nullify all civil rights legislation ever passed, regardless of who is being protected.

Is legislation to legalize discrimination beneficial to either secular society or to the advancement of the word of God?