Before the ink was dry on the Kentucky Senate's passage of the Religious Freedom Act, gay rights groups sent a letter to Governor Steve Beshear asking him to veto the bill. They contend it will give people the right to discriminate against gays and lesbians. The letter said in part "House Bill 279 represents a clear and present danger to the gay and lesbian community and other minority groups around the commonwealth. House Bill 279 does nothing more than give people permission to discriminate based on their religious beliefs, thereby taking it beyond 'freedom of religion' to 'forced religion,' because they have imposed their religious beliefs on others, with legal authority to do so."
In other words, it's not OK for orthodox Christians to live out their beliefs. But it is OK for homosexuals to live out their beliefs and force the rest of society to acquiesce. The gay lobby has played their hand. The only thing that is being forced here is the uniform view that homosexuality is to be absolutely tolerated and opposing views will not be tolerated. And it is done at the expense of religious freedom. Its time for the gay political lobby to fold since the cards they're holding are full of jokers. They ought to respect that other people think differently on the boundaries and standards for human sexuality. And they shouldn't be surprised that these same people would act on their beliefs and teach others what they believe to be true about this issue.
Churches and business owners with deeply held religious convictions should be free to exercise their opinions and operate their congregations and businesses according to the dictates of their conscience. The gay lobby disagrees and somehow sees HB 279 as "forcing religion." Truth is, the militant left has violated the religious freedom of those who believe homosexuality is a sin. They have successfully forced a church in New Jersey to choose between its 501c3 tax status or allowing homosexuals to use their church property to marry. They have successfully fined a Christian couple who owned a photography studio in New Mexico for refusing to photograph a gay wedding. And here in Kentucky, Christian-owned Hands on Originals has been dragged before the Lexington Human Rights Commission because they declined to fill a T-shirt order for a gay pride parade.
HB 279 is necessary to protect the religious freedom of those who believe that homosexuality is contrary to the moral law. It may not be politically correct, but religious freedom and the ability to live out one's faith in society is a long recognized practice going all the way back to, I don't know, the Pilgrims who could certainly teach us a thing or two about religious toleration.
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/03/08/2547842/kentucky-senate-sends-religious.html#storylink=cpy