Oklahoma Rep. Emily Virgin Suggests Businesses Post Notice Before Discriminating Against Patrons- The Huffington Post| Curtis M. Wong
A Democratic state representative in Oklahoma has offered up an unusual amendment to the state's Religious Freedom Act that would reportedly give businesses the option to discriminate based on their religious beliefs, but would require those establishments to be upfront about it.
Since this amendment was proposed by a Democrat I thought it was either a joke or an attempt at irony but it appears to be a legitimate. I guess she thinks there will be a backlash against businesses that choose to discriminate but that isn't the point. Segregation is the point. I grew up in the segregated south and remember the separate colored and white restrooms and waiting room signs. The signs that said Colored Served in the Rear, Whites Only, or just plain old No N***@rs. I was very young and white and didn't understand until later but I do remember and I remember that it didn't end well. Ironically you can go to the theater of your choice and watch Selma for a history lesson. Maybe the Oklahoma Legislature needs a private screening.
This neo-religious freedom to hate movement is in fact the opposite of freedom. It's based on the same core belief of all religious fanatics. That in the name of religion I have the right to impose my beliefs on you. It's racism and homophobia in a religious cloaking device but that's not the way we operate. Your rights stop at my body. For instance you don't have a right practice polygamy or take child brides. We also tend to frown on beheading those who don't worship like you. Religious freedom like all freedoms are not unlimited.
Yet, while LGBT Americans are the current target of this effort to repackage prejudice as “religious liberty,” they are hardly the first. To the contrary, as Wake Forest law Professor Michael Kent Curtis explained in a 2012 law review article, many segregationists justified racial bigotry on the very same grounds that religious conservatives now hope to justify anti-gay animus. In the words of one professor at a prominent Mississippi Baptist institution, “our Southern segregation way is the Christian way . . . . [God] was the original segregationist.” When ‘Religious Liberty’ Was Used To Justify Racism Instead Of Homophobia
In the words of Pete Seeger: "When will they ever learn."