What's wrong with "religion freedom?" For most people, those are two good things: religion--good, freedom--very good. Together, they make a perfect pair, in theory. In actuality, bills aimed at preserving religion freedom would more accurately be described as "Freedom to Discriminate" bills. Oh, Georgia...you always make me proud.
Luckily, this time, people aren't taking it lying down. And why shouldn't they? This bill is disgusting and is plainly being pushed through the legislature to stop pesky lawsuits from inconveniencing good, hard-working, God-fearing folk.
The thing I've seen most from the bill's supporters is that it really is needed to protect their religious freedom. The gays are taking over and they're trying to force me into a life of sin, so we must legislate against that. In reality, these are people who have just been itching for an excuse to hate, and I'd like to address their concerns.
"So what if a baker doesn't want to serve you for being gay? Just go to another baker, duh."
This is a great argument except for one thing: this law won't just affect the bigot in the group, it will affect them all. Let's say you have 10 bakers, but only one is crazy enough to turn away customers for being gay. With this law in place, the other nine feel safe in also discriminating against gay customers, and all of the sudden, you have no bakers. Sorry Charlie.
"I shouldn't have to do something I don't want to do!"
That's true. You probably also shouldn't be operating a business in public if you don't want to serve everyone. The same way that you can be sued for rejecting black or disabled customers, you should be able to be sued for not serving gay people, or anyone, really.
"You can't make me change my beliefs by serving you!"
I'm not asking you to change your beliefs, I'm asking you to take my money in exchange for a service, like you always do. I'm not asking you to attend my wedding, officiate it, or donate to the cause. I give you money, and you give me a cake, that's how it works with everyone else, why not me?
"We have to do something to stop this tide of Godless behavior!"
No, actually, we don't. If you don't like where the country is heading, go somewhere else. Government really shouldn't be in the business of sponsoring your bigotry.
"To serve a gay customer would hurt me and my family, and cause us harm, so I won't do it!"
Oh, will it? I don't think it will. If you're the only car dealership in the town I live in, but you won't sell me a car because I'm gay, how do I get around? How do I find a job? How do I take my kids to school (I'm sure you love that I would have kids, too)? How would I support my family without it? What happens if someone gets hurt and I can't drive my kid to the hospital because you wouldn't sell me a car, and he dies. Who's at fault then? It's you.
See, a gay person being denied a right or service because of that sole fact, affects them negatively in a real, tangible, measurable way. Loss of income, loss of opportunity, loss of cake. (And yes, the cake example seems trivial, but it goes to a larger point.) If you deny my access to something because of my orientation, you are causing me actual harm. You selling me a cake or a car or anything (even against your religious beliefs) doesn't hurt you--not really. You might feel bad, guilty even. You might feel weird, okay. But you still got your money, you still received compensation for a service, you're not injured in any realistic way.
And that's the difference between someone's religious "feelings" and someones inalienable rights. This isn't a tough concept to grasp for me nor should it be for anyone. And while I may not be a fan of organized religion for just this reason, it's a point worth making about the institution in general. If you operate a business with the sole purpose of making money, having a good life, and supporting your family, and your religious beliefs are so stringent that you cannot do that job effectively, that's a problem. Your religion is no longer enriching your life, it's hurting it