OUR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY BILL

Hats off to the Mississippi State Legislature leadership and to Governor Phil Bryant!  Thanks to Speaker of the House, Philip Gunn, and to the governor for the courage to author, shepherd, and sign into law HB 1523 creating religious liberty accommodations for all people of faith in Mississippi.

I especially applaud these leaders for not kowtowing to the intimidation and threats by corporations and big business that seem to wish to discriminate against not only people of faith, but against common sense.  These corporations, the likes of Nissan and Toyota, perhaps themselves kowtowing to the forces of gay activists who oppose the religious liberty of people of faith, rush to practice their secular faith at the Altar of False Diversity but at the expense of those who are God-fearing and working to be Christ-like.  Their brand of diversity is not diverse at all when it excludes people who take seriously the practicing of their faith.  In that sense it's exclusionary.

It's an existential fact that corporate America now sets the conditions within which the government operates, and controls it to a large extent.  Corporations, many of which are international, control the economy and much of our social life.  It is in spite of this that we should be in gratitude to the governor, Republican state leadership, and others who had the fortitude to vote for and support this bill in the interest of all people of faith.

The gay community, and others who misrepresent this bill, are reacting hysterically to a bill that will no more allow businesses to deny serving them a hamburger, or sell them any goods, than they would now deny a drug dealer, pornographic queen, adulterer, or felon.  If you have your money, come one, come all.  "We're in business."

With respect to education, the bill will protect from discriminatory action, a faith-based school that does not hire a teacher who lives out and teaches principles that are not faithful to the mission of Christian teaching, especially the 2000-year-old teaching of Jesus Christ that marriage is between one man and one woman.

With respect to adoptions and the placement of children, the bill will protect from discriminatory action, faith-based organizations who place children with couples who abide by the long-held religious belief that marriage is between one man and one woman.

And with respect to one's exercising their conscience with their religious faith it will protect from discriminatory action persons who do not wish to be forced into participating in a celebration or event that is heretical or contrary to the long-held Christian teaching that marriage is between one man and one woman.

Nissan Corporation claims they promote inclusion, but seem only to include people of faith IF they reform their consciences away from that formed by Holy Writ and into that which comports with their particular secular religion.  This necessitates authoritarian, even totalitarian measures to do so.  This strategy is already afoot and that train is coming down the track.

Anyway, Nissan Corporation should be ashamed of themselves for publicly coming forward in opposition to this important legislation.  In 2003, when they began manufacturing vehicles in Canton, Mississippi, the Mississippi taxpayers, about 98% of whom are not homosexuals, subsidized their business operations to the tune of $1.3 BILLION dollars.  And now they come, pompously pronouncing from their Altar of False Diversity that Mississippians, people of faith, have no right to resist the affirmation, the practice, and promotion, of a lifestyle that includes anal intercourse, and have no right to resist to the falsity that two men, or two women, can "marry".  Shame on Nissan and Toyota.

Governor Bryant courageously signed this bill into law in contrast to Georgia's governor, Nathan Deal, who cowardly vetoed their state's religious liberty bill, kowtowing and sucking up to Big Business in fear, abandoning the people of faith in his state.  What Georgia governor Nathan Deal vetoed was the following:
          Clergy would not have to perform same sex marriage.
          Protection for non-profits from having to provide services that violate their faith.
          Protection of religious non-profits to hire only employees who support and practice the non-profit's faith.
         
At some point citizens and leaders must push back on corporations and business interests attempting to influence our social life and our freedom to exercise our consciences as we live out and practice our faith.  Push back against the assault on common sense and political correctness.  Push back on the unjust laws.  Push back against the authoritarian forces that are causing agencies working for the common good to close down.

Perhaps this new law is a part of the beginning.  Let's pray it is.

Again, thanks to Governor Bryant and Speaker Gunn!