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Rebecca Florence Miller

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Updated Thoughts on Indiana’s Law

Updated Thoughts on Indiana’s Law

Last updated on: April 1, 2015 at 8:18 pm by Rebecca Florence Miller

Updated Thoughts on Indiana’s Law 2015-04-01T20:18:09-06:00 Rebecca Florence Miller

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I have been having a rousing conversation with my commenters over the course of the last few days over at my first post on Indiana’s RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act). As always, I learn a lot from them and appreciate their willingness to hear what I have to say as well.

I would like to briefly clarify a few points, including a few areas where my thinking is changing.

First of all, it may be helpful to recall the news media’s reports only a couple of days ago. While there probably were some careful journalists who did report the facts and while the media are beginning to catch up now, just a few days ago that was not so true. What I was hearing from the media and also from liberal friends implied that the law itself contained language against LGBT people. This was false.

I never disputed that a large part of the motivation for the law was the issue of Christians wanting the option to abstain from baking a cake for a gay wedding. For those who read my original piece closely, you will find not only that I agree that that was much of the motivation (along with concerns about contraception and abortion provisions), but that I also challenged Christians to not use their “rights” all the time, particularly in relation to the gay community (who we have often been guilty of causing deep pain to). (See Elizabeth Scalia’s excellent post in which she argues that Christians either need to be consistent in refusing service to ANYBODY who might possibly use the service to sin or just bake the darn cake already. Also, see Ben Corey’s excellent post about 10 situations where Christians should refuse to make a wedding cake–hint, it skewers the “I don’t want to contribute to somebody’s sin” argument.) I also tried to make a broader point that despite self-focused original intent, the law can be used in service to my neighbor (and not just my Christian neighbor, but religious minorities too), which I support.

However, since I wrote I have been hearing a lot of equivocating and side-stepping of the issue by some conservative political groups. I would feel better about it if they would just come out and admit their motivation. But I hear a lot of dancing around their motivation. They are right that the law can be used to benefit religious minorities, but I don’t believe that is the primary motivation here for many. I don’t hear a lot of Christians (although there are some) spending time defending the rights of religious minorities. Quite the opposite, in fact (consider the fear and animosity toward the religious when it comes to Muslims and toward the irreligious when it comes to atheists). Again, this is not everybody and I definitely know some amazing Christians–including conservative Christians–who do care about the rights of others, but it is nevertheless true that unquestioned religious privilege is a huge issue among conservative Christians.

Unfortunately, what I have been seeing for years among a lot of conservative Christians is the movement inward to protect the group’s own turf and “rights,” not a lot about protecting the rights of others (keep in mind, there are definitely exceptions to this, but this is a general trend in conservatism right now). This speaks to a fear motivation, instead of pouring one’s life out for one’s neighbor.

I do understand that Indiana’s law, while bearing some similarities to the federal law, is different. You can find mention of one of the key differences between the federal law and Indiana’s law right in my original post: the Indiana law allows the RFRA to apply to civil suits.

Since writing my first post, I am coming to better understand how Indiana’s law is different from other state RFRAs, thanks to readers and friends.

As I understand it, most of the other RFRAs (except for the one in Texas) do not include a provision to apply them to civil suits in which the government is not a party. In addition, there is the issue of whether a company functions as a person and can raise a religious freedom defense in court. Garrett Epps writes in The Atlantic:

the Indiana law explicitly allows any for-profit business to assert a right to “the free exercise of religion.” The federal RFRA doesn’t contain such language, and neither does any of the state RFRAs except South Carolina’s; in fact, Louisiana and Pennsylvania, explicitly exclude for-profit businesses from the protection of their RFRAs.

The third factor (and probably the most important one) is that Indiana does not have a law that prevents discrimination for sexual orientation. Only a few states with RFRAs have laws at the state level protecting people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. You can click on the link above to see which ones.

After talking with my readers, I am still thinking things through but am increasingly moving toward supporting a law in each of these states that prevents discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation (and by the way, let’s add the irreligious to the list of people who cannot be discriminated against for their lack of belief in God: Madison, Wisconsin did it and “it’s only fair”). The more we learn about sexual orientation, the more we come to see that in and of itself, it probably cannot be changed. The harm of reparative therapy has been recorded again and again. Unless protection is in place, those who would persecute people based on sexual orientation could easily be emboldened to do so based on an assumption that this law will protect them in court (whether or not it actually will). Christians definitely should always look out for our neighbor, not just in word, but in deed. Protecting our neighbor’s safety and livelihood and dignity through anti-discrimination laws could be a wonderful way to love our neighbor as ourselves. If we are too afraid that somewhere down the road doing so will lead to our “rights” being denied, I would suggest that our job as Christians is not to focus on ourselves and protecting our corner of the sandbox. Our job is to love our neighbors as ourselves. Our job is less to think of our own rights and more to think of our neighbor’s rights. And, as a side benefit, when we treat others with dignity, they certainly are more likely to be interested in hearing what we have to say. We should treat others the way we want to be treated.

So, yes, I’m tending toward the non-discrimination against sexual orientation law. And I say all this STILL believing that what the Bible teaches about the ideal and created intent for marriage is indeed one man and one woman. But I don’t think you can really make a good secular argument for this. This is a matter of faith and discipleship. It’s a matter of obedience to God in one’s own behavior, like a lot of things in Christianity.

In the meantime, we Christians have a lot of repenting and mending of fences to do. If we remain convinced that WE are the wronged party, we will fall substantially behind the important work we need to do, the work of making amends for how we have sinned against the gay community.

And even if now and then we are the wronged party, so what? What did Jesus say, friends?

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.–Matthew 5:43-48 NIV

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Community discussion guidelines:

Because this is a Christian blog, the things I’m talking about will obviously be topics that people feel strongly about in one direction or another. Please keep in mind that this is a place for substantive, respectful conversation. All perspectives are welcome to discuss here as long as all can treat each other with kindness and respect. Please ignore trolls, refuse to engage in personal attacks, and observe the comment policy listed on the right side of the page. Comments that violate these guidelines may be deleted. For those who clearly violate these policies repeatedly, my policy is to issue a warning which, if not regarded, may lead to blacklisting. This is not about censorship, but about creating a healthy, respectful environment for discussion.

P.S. Please also note that I am not a scientist, but a person with expertise in theology and the arts. While I am very interested in the relationship between science and faith, I do not believe I personally will be able to adequately address the many questions that inevitably come up related to science and religion. I encourage you to seek out the writings of theistic or Christian scientists to help with those discussions.

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