Joe.My.God. LGBT News
West Virginia state Sen. Robert Karnes has introduced a “religious freedom” bill that is so broad that even sites that regularly report on this nonsense have dropped jaws. Michael Stone writes:
Sharia for Jesus: West Virginia bill would give Christians a “get out of jail free” card. A sweeping religious freedom bill promoted by Republicans in West Virginia would allow people of faith to illegally discriminate against others, as well as break any other law that violates their sincerely held religious beliefs.
Senate Bill 11 (SB 11) – also known as the “West Virginia Freedom of Conscience Protection Act” – establishes that only a “governmental interest of the highest magnitude that cannot otherwise be achieved without burdening the exercise of religion” can compel someone to obey the law if their religious beliefs come into conflict with it.
SB 11 defines of the exercise of religion thus: “Exercise of religion” means the sincere practice or observance of religion or religious conscience. It includes, but is not limited to, the ability to act or refuse to act in a manner substantially motivated by one’s sincerely held religious beliefs or religious conscience, whether or not the exercise is compulsory or central to a larger system of religious belief.”
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In other words, if you believe in something that conflicts with law, that’s enough to absolve you of your legal duties… unless the state can prove that the issue is absolutely crucial to the state’s interests. While the bill protects the discriminatory impulses of a handful of bigoted bakers and clerks, the fact is that, if passed, the state would have to prove a “governmental interest of the highest magnitude” to enforce any law.