-By Warner Todd Huston
On Monday Georgia Governor Nathan Deal vetoed a religious liberty bill that would stop state authorities from forcing Christians to participate in gay marriages, but one of the “reasons” Deal said prevented him from signing the bill is fraught with a pretzel logic he can’t possibly believe.
In the Governor’s view, HB 757 was “discriminatory.” Instead of protecting religious freedom, Deal claimed it only served to oppress gays. Worse, he said despite clear examples of such coercion in other states, since it’s never happened in Georgia then the law isn’t needed.
Of course, the law was written to head off the sort of state-sponsored coercion and curtailment of religious liberty seen in other states, not necessarily a law meant to correct what has already happened in the Peach State. The fact it has happened in a number of other states was plenty enough reason to try to prevent it from happening at all in Georgia.
In any case, Deal goes on to note how religious liberty is one of the first principles of the founding of the country. The founders, Deal said, “made it clear that those liberties [religious liberties] were given by God and not by man’s government. Therefore, it was unnecessary to enumerate in statute or constitution what those liberties included.”
He then went on to indulge some truly absurd pretzel logic that is so tortured even he can’t possible believe it…
In light of our history, I find it ironic that today some in the religious community feel it necessary to ask the government to confer upon them certain rights and protections. If indeed our religious liberty is conferred by God and not by man-made government, we should heed the “hands-off” admonition of the First Amendment to our Constitution. When legislative bodies attempt to do otherwise, the inclusions and omissions in their statutes can lead to discrimination, even though it may be unintentional. That is too great a risk to take.
Bu wait… it is government which has taken a “hands on” not a “hands off” stance and it is that stance forcing Christians to try to preemptively protect their religious liberties. Far from the “hands off” mien Deal wants to promulgate, governments in many states are going out of their way to trample on religious liberties in a systematic denial of people’s rights.
So, while Deal pretends government should steer clear of making the sort of law he vetoed, it is government forcing the hands of Christians to try and protect themselves in the first place.
If there truly was a “hands off” policy going on governments wouldn’t be trampling the rights of Christians by forcing them by both law and regulation to participate in gay weddings. Deal can’t possible be so blind as not to see this simple truth!
In the end, Governor Deal made this move for one reason: money. With corporate bosses telling him they may retaliate against the state were it to act to assure religious liberty and that they will pull jobs and economic development from the state, the Governor bowed to corporate interests and placed the almighty dollar over the religious liberty of his citizenry.
It’s just that simple.
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“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson
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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer. He has been writing news, opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and before that wrote articles on U.S. history for several American history magazines. Huston is a featured writer for Andrew Breitbart’s Breitbart News, and he appears on such sites as RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, Federalist Papers, and many, many others. Huston has also appeared on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and many local TV shows as well as numerous talk radio shows throughout the country.
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