Opinion: A few words for Indiana

Zachary+Downes+is+a+junior+journalism+major.+Contact+him+at%C2%A0zdownes%40kent.edu.

Zachary Downes is a junior journalism major. Contact him at [email protected].

Zachary Downes

Discrimination has been in the news recently, starting with the Ferguson incident. It has always been an unspoken problem in our country. Just so everyone knows, discrimination means unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people on the grounds of race, age, gender or, in this case, sexuality.

I’m sure everyone is aware of the law in Indiana, known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which says that businesses can deny service to customers on the basis of religious beliefs. The way the law is worded, a homosexual couple could be denied service at a restaurant.

As a person who is all about standing up for your beliefs, this is literally the most ridiculous legislation I have ever heard of.

First off, I would like Indiana Governor Mike Pence, who signed the law, to refer to our pal Thomas Jefferson’s phrase, “separation of church and state.” Although this is not technically a law, there should not be a law that brings religious beliefs into the workplace. I’m assuming Pence went to some sort of law school or is familiar with Thomas Jefferson.

Also, if you do not like gay people for whatever reason, totally OK! Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I am not asking anyone to change their viewpoints for anything. However, people should not be denied service for who they are and what they do in their personal lives. I am pretty sure the country passed up this small-minded thinking during the civil rights movement, you know, when it was made illegal to make African-Americans sit in specific seats on the bus and eat at different restaurants.

However, there is a claim that the law is being interpreted wrong and needs to be reworded. 

I’m sorry, but what? Personally, I feel that the law was written and received negative backlash and then Pence has tried to cover up bigotry.

The law is ridiculous. I’m not even sure how this became an actual law. It denies people service just because of who they are as people. Some people may believe that homosexuality is a choice; that’s fine. Once again, everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, denying those people service because of their lifestyle is ridiculous. Regardless of who you are and what you do, no one deserves to be denied service and treated as if they are nothing. 

In the Book of Leviticus, it does mention something about homosexuality being a sin. However, in the same book of the Bible, it says you can’t do a number of things that are common such as eating pigs and rabbits or wearing ripped clothing. So if we are going to make accusations of it being a sin, then take into consideration that these are also sins.

That’s all I have to say. dis