Courtesy of Mediaite:
This Week host George Stephanopoulos absolutely grilled Indiana Governor Mike Pence (R) over the newly-signed “religious freedom” bill, which critics maintain would allow businesses to refuse services to LGBT customers. Pence argued that the bill’s intentions had been misrepresented in media coverage, and insisted he would not change the bill, though he did continue to say he would “clarify” it.
However, Pence refused to answer two “yes or no” questions posed to him by Stephanopoulos over the potentially discriminatory ramifications of the bill, including whether it would allow a florist to deny services to a gay couple, as its supporters maintain.
“There’s been shameless rhetoric about my state and this law and its intention all over the internet,” Pence said. “People are trying to make it about one particular issue, and now you’re doing that as well.”
Stephanopoulos asked the question several more times. “It’s a simple yes or no question,” Stephanopoulos said.
“The issue here is: is tolerance a two-way street or not?” Pence said. “There’s a lot of talk about tolerance in this country having to do with people on the left. Here Indiana steps forward to protect the constitutional rights and privileges of freedom of religion for people of faith in our state, and this avalanche of intolerance that’s been poured on our state is outrageous.”
Wow that is some of the fanciest dancing I have seen since John Travolta on Saturday Night Fever.
Pence goes on to say that he would NOT pass a law protecting the rights of the LGBT community, which would of course make people less concerned about this new law. And at one point refuses to answer Stephanopoulos's question about whether or not it should be legal to discriminate against gays and lesbians.
By the way as Pence continues his dance more and more businesses are making the decision that Indiana is now a "no go zone" for them and their employees.
So I guess he would protect the right of Satanic cults to perform human sacrifice. Anyone can claim to believe in anything as a part of his/her religion.
ReplyDeleteSo if I'm an emergency room doctor, and they bring in a gay guy from a car accident at 3 a.m., can I just refuse to treat him because of my "deeply held religious belief"?
ReplyDeleteI guess the evangelical Christian dream situation here is to let the damn gay person die, because god and baby jessus hates them anyways.
What if a woman and her girl friend show up at a Target or Walmart pharmacy and one of them has a prescription to fill
Can I refuse to give them their medication because I "suspect" they might be gay, and sleeping together?
And just for fun, WHO THE FUCK DECIDES that someone is gay?
You can't always tell by just looking at someone, no shit!
Are all merchants, firefighters,cops, doctors, pharmacists, store clerks, bakers, florists, or mail carriers supposed to just come out now and say," Hey are you homosexual?"
This law makes as much sense as the one in Illinois that will charge you with murder for miscarriages.
Or the one in Arizona proposed by some idiot that wants to force people to go to church.
What the FUCK is wrong with these people?
I believe the honorable gubernatorial Spence would point out to you that if your hypothetical car accident victim wasnt gay in the first place, Jeebus wouldn't have had to punished him with the accident. Something to think about, innit?
DeleteAnd that is way xtians never get sick, never get hurt and live forever until Jeebus needs them at His side to help Him run the Universe.
The answer to your question as to what is wrong with these people is this: The sponsors and financial backers of this new law and those who made it law are all Dominionists.
DeleteHave not heard of them before? There is plenty of information about them, about Dominion Theology, and Christian Reconstructionism on the web. Learn more about them by doing some research.
The wider American public are unaware of what is going on, they may even be puzzled by the insistence of this small group to have their religion and Bible enshrined by the government.
What Dominionists seek is to establish a theocracy in America, to replace a secular government with a fascist Christian dictatorship. They hate others who do not bow down to their Jesus and their brand of Christianity. Make no mistake, if we allow them to take power and gain control, there will be another holocaust because they are on record as stating they will kill those who are undesirables, and they justify it because it is Biblical Levitical Law, which they want to be the law of the land.
Dominionists have been stealthily insinuating themselves into our government, our judiciary, and our military. You are going to see a lot of Dominionists run for President on the Republican ticket in 2016.
Dominionists are traitors, they are dangerous, and they must be stopped. The only way we will is to become more aware, join together into an anti-Dominionist movement and confront them.
I drive across Indiana a couple times a year, just stopping for gas and quick meals. Now, I'll just pass through without spending a penny. Even a tiny boycott helps, I think.
ReplyDeleteIt does, and thank you for being part of the solution.
DeleteI live in this shit hole and I am making damned sure every purchase I can make out of state will be just that. No more cars, big electronic purchases or going to Costco in Indy, I will go to the one in Springdale OH instead (and yes I a;ready wrote a snail mail letter to Costco to tell them so.) The more I can do to fuck this state, the better. Not one extra cent of sales tax dollars will be going here. Fuck Indiana.
Deletethis also means that pharmacists can refuse to provide birth control or abortifascients or other medicines that they deem to be objectionable and that doctors don't have to provide services or treatments or good advice to their patients.
ReplyDeleteit means that if I tell people I'm an atheist, I may not be hired for a job, or considered for advancement, or elected to public office.
it is not just about gay issues. it's about religion trumping common law whenever the religious person claims to be offended.
in the end, the religious people will start really turning people away from them, due to such limited thinking.
I can't help but think that this law will haunt them, but in the meantime, there are many services and considerations for employment that will be withheld under the guise of freedom of belief while the rest of us can't enjoy the same protection for ourselves.
it also opens up a HUGE gaping hole in RCC doctors' practices (pet alone hospitals). They can ow force their doctors (due to their religious affiliation) to legally refuse to dispense birth control, IVF drugs, or anything else they religiously believe is evil. Since many rural communities have only religious hospitals this means a world of hurt for many folks. Doctors need hospital affiliations and many are forced to go to the RCC hospitals or do without, hindering their abilities to aid and treat their patients.
DeleteIt already is that way, and has always been as far as I know, at least in Colorado.
DeleteI experienced a fetal death at 7 months, and my RCC doctor and hospital refused to perform the late-term "abortion" procedure I needed to prevent infection and my own possible death.
I ended up going to a Jewish-affiliated hospital which did perform the operation, but which didn't take our insurance.
So yeah, wonderful, isn't it?
heh heh heh
ReplyDeleteWhoops: Indiana’s anti-gay ‘Religious Freedom’ act opens the door for the First Church of Cannabis
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/whoops-indianas-anti-gay-religious-freedom-act-opens-the-door-for-the-first-church-of-cannabis/#.VRil-CIjfB4.twitter
The interview was pretty funny, the governor had this "deer in the headlights" look on his face when George questioned him, then he had the incredulously look that George kept asking the same question over and over. Like why aren't you buying my B.S. George.
ReplyDeleteI wish George had asked him just exactly does he propose they identify all these gays they want to discriminate against.
Sir Charles is suggesting they move the basketballs games from Indianapolis.
I say hit them where they will understand-in the pocket book and those religious freedom folks won't look so good.
Does this law only allow discrimination against gays or can a business owner turn away Christians because it is against their religion?
A business owner could turn away Jews, Catholics, Mormons, etc. It's an equal opportunity law.
DeleteI have already contacted Angie's List thanking them for reconsidering their expansion in Indiana, I have the phone number for the NCAA written down and will add to what Sir Charles is saying about any future tournies in their state. My plan is to call , email, use the "contact us" of every company I hear doing the correct thing. We could all do this, while I doubt my efforts can do much I think if thousands did it could make a difference.
DeleteI am asking all loyal IMers and any casual readers to join me in this effort.. You too Gryphen :)
Little Rabbit
I already got a reply back from Angie's List. Apparently I am not the first since there was a reply set for this circumstance, it is as follows
Delete"Thank you for your support of Angie’s List!
Angie’s List does not tolerate discrimination of any kind in our workplace, and we also expect service providers to treat our members with respect. Our members have the right to post reviews of businesses who they feel have discriminated against them. A pattern of poor consumer service of this nature could result in an “unfriendly consumer practice” note being placed on the company’s profile and being excluded from search results.
Let's all hope with enough people contacting them there plans for expansion are not just rethought, but set for another, more welcoming state.
I would love to see a list of the companies boycotting Indiana. I'd write and thank them. Does anyone have a link?
ReplyDeleteI contacted Angie's List using the "contact us" on their home page, I am also going to call the NCAA to move future events and they have telephone numbers listed on their website.
DeleteI would love a list, recovering from minor surgery and nothing else to do.
Shit shit shit... my daughter just committed to Indiana University.
ReplyDeleteAll I can hope for is it is a bastion of sanity in an otherwise insane state.
Bloomington is a very liberal area and not at all like the powdunk countryside around it. Plus it is not far from Indy, another bastion of sanity. Congrats to the new student, this law will get changed or booted out once the financial aspect hits Pence harder (and believe me it will). Most Hoosiers I know are screaming about this already.
DeleteThen your daughter needs to contact the college or unie and ask what the hell she can do to get out because of this law.
DeleteAnd it she's an athlete she needs to contact the NCAA.
DeleteDon't worry. To fill the economic void Indiana will suffer,
ReplyDeleteChick-fi-la can just take their place.
Pence is really a slick one.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this dust-up is a stepping stone for higher office?
He'd look far better on a national stage that almost all of the GOP's declared and undeclared preznitential candidates.
Dammit! I live here in Indiana! Don't blame me, I voted for John Gregg for Governor in 2012. I hate Pence and our horrible Republican super majority legislature!
ReplyDeletePence forgets how the government works. He can't change the bill. The Indiana State Legislature (at his direction no doubt) crafted the bill and passed it. All that Pence does is sign it. He suggested that the legislature could "clarify" the bill, which makes them all look like idiots, passing something that "needs clarification. If you can't enforce the law, a court can decide that it can't be a law.
ReplyDeletePence didn't have to sign it.
DeleteGood God. What. An. Ass.
ReplyDeleteListening to this conversation convinced me more than anything that this law has nothing to do with 'religious freedom' and everything to do with bigotry. Jesus shared meals with thieves and prostitutes, so how can 'christians' justify not selling cake or flowers to gay people?
If this doesn't end this joker's aspirations for national office and put him in the rumble seat of the repub clown car, I don't know what would.
Sheesh.
Mike "Mussolini" Pence is quoted as saying he will NOT back down.
ReplyDeleteJust wait until the state's accountants come running into his office screaming that hundreds of millions of revenue dollars are no longer coming in, and that companies across Indiana are seeing drops of as much as 50% in sales.
That will lead to raising taxes, skyrocketing unemployment, and even inflation...watch the supposed "religious" citizens become an angry mob, out for blood.
The only part of this backlash that is sad, is that it isn't just Indiana, passing "Freedom of Bigotry" laws. Maybe it will spread to the other states, once the internet citizens see the success that viral communication can bring about.
Correction, it will run up into the billions. GenCon itself is close to 50 million a year.
DeleteI might agree with "Twinkle Toes" Pence about the tolerance being a two-way street thing, if the problem in Indiana has been:
ReplyDelete- Black landlords refusing to rent to white Xtians
- Gay florists and bakers refusing their services to straight Xtians
- Jewish pharmacists refusing to fill the prescriptions of Catholic Xtians
- Women lunch counter owners refusing to serve male Xtians
... and so on. I'm pretty sure none of that was what was happening in Indiana. In fact, I'm hard-pressed to figure out exactly why this bill was needed - what problem was it fixing and for what portion of the population?
Two-way street my backside.
That was Pence's not-so-veiled way of saying gays (and we can lump other non-religious groups in there like blacks, women and atheists) just have to tolerate being discriminated against due to other peoples' religious beliefs.
That's just so wrong, so anti-American.
MarvinM
Pence screwed the pooch.
ReplyDeleteSeattle Joins San Francisco in Banning City-Funded Trips to Indiana
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politicususa.com/2015/03/30/seattle-joins-san-francisco-banning-city-funded-trips-indiana.html
The Real Unseen Danger of Indiana’s Legal Discrimination Law
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politicususa.com/2015/03/30/real-unseen-danger-indianas-legal-discrimination-law.html
Two of the top lawmakers in the Indiana state legislature, both Republicans, explained Monday morning that they plan to push an amendment "clarifying" the controversial religious freedom law Gov. Mike Pence (R) signed last week that could allow businesses to discriminate against same-sex couples.
ReplyDeletehttp://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/brian-bosma-david-long-indiana-religious-freedom
Fucking bigots. Slimy, disgusting, lying asswipes.
Conn. Gov. Will Sign Executive Order On Travel In Protest Of Indiana Law
ReplyDeletehttp://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/dannel-malloy-executive-order-mike-pence