In an op-ed titled “I’m Holding Firm Against Gay Marriage” in the The New York Times this morning, Gov. Bobby Jindal says the debate over religious liberty in America presents conservatives and business leaders with a crucial choice.
“In Indiana and Arkansas, large corporations recently joined left-wing activists to bully elected officials into backing away from strong protections for religious liberty,” Jindal writes. “It was disappointing to see conservative leaders so hastily retreat on legislation that would simply allow for an individual or business to claim a right to free exercise of religion in a court of law.”
Jindal says that while political leaders in Indiana and Arkansas “quickly cowered amid the shrieks of big business and the radical left,” he won’t do the same as national attention turns to the Bayou State and the Marriage and Conscience Act lawmakers are taking up this session.
“As the fight for religious liberty moves to Louisiana, I have a clear message for any corporation that contemplates bullying our state: Save your breath,” Jindal writes.
Noting Louisiana first adopted a Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 2010, Jindal nonetheless says he plans to fight for passage of the Marriage and Conscience Act this session because of the “changing positions of politicians, judges and the public in favor of same-sex marriage, along with the potential for discrimination against Christian individuals and businesses that comes with these shifts.”
Jindal acknowledges that some corporations already have asked him to oppose this law. As previously reported, IBM recently sent a letter to Jindal outlining its opposition to the Marriage and Conscience Act, to which Jindal responded with his own letter defending the act and saying it would not make discrimination of any kind legal.
“I am certain that other companies, under pressure from radical liberals, will do the same,” Jindal writes in the op-ed. “They are free to voice their opinions, but they will not deter me. As a nation we would not compel a priest, minister or rabbi to violate his conscience and perform a same-sex wedding ceremony. But a great many Americans who are not members of the clergy feel just as called to live their faith through their businesses. That’s why we should ensure that musicians, caterers, photographers and others should be immune from government coercion on deeply held religious convictions.”
