Mississippi Discrimination Law Signed by Governor

http://www.wlox.com/story/25156994/mississippi-religious-freedom-restoration-act-signed-into-law

But don't worry; when this is ruled unconstitutional in the next five minutes, I'm sure Republicans will be quick to propose a religious freedom bill permitting separate water fountains.

Yea, social conservatism is a pretty big joke.

what does the bill do?

Allows businesses to refuse service for "religious reasons." So if they think God says not to like gays, a business owner can refuse to serve gays--which is exactly why the bill exists.

I'm pretty sure the KKK subscribes to some form of religious belief...

let's see how that works out

So sad but not unexpected from the inbreed hick politicians they have in that degenerate state. Didn't they just recently ratify the 13th amendment, too?

What's even more sad is that not everyone from these states is a knuckle-dragging neanderthal, and these nutjobs are dragging the entire state down with them.

I wouldn't go far as calling them "inbreed hicks".

Almost all Southern States oppose marriages between 1st cousins. As oppose to most Northern States which have laws legalizing 1st cousin marriages, especially here in NYC. Ironic, really, when you hear about Southern stereotypes.

Just saying.

But going back topic, yeah those laws are backwards thinking and stupid.

you should be able to serve or not serve whoever you want

Agreed.

seriously?

The first time a Muslim or Atheist business owner refuses to serve Christians they will be screaming about persecution. lol

Its Mississippi, do we really expect any thing more from the state with one of the worst education systems in the country and one of the highest amounts of religious fundamentalism?

While I understand why you would be against this law, personally I don't have a problem with it. Think of it this way: this law allows people to openly state their opposition to certain people using their establishments. If you knew who didn't want to serve you due to your lifestyle wouldn't you avoid them even if legally you have a right to be served there?

For example, while I don't personally know anybody who is actively protesting Chick Fil A, I have read of people both straight and homosexual who refuse to eat there due to the executive who has a problem with gay marriage. It would be like some restaurant owner telling me he hates black people but will serve me because the law says he has to. Knowing that he is a racist, I won't give him my money anyway.

Now, if the law allowed doctors to withhold life-saving medical care from homosexuals due to religious beliefs like segregation laws allowed hospitals to refuse treatment to non whites in the past that is a different story.

Why does this crap still exist in the South? They're like the Middle East of the US (meaning they're several years behind in the human rights department).

This

If it discriminates against ethnic minorities though I have a problem with it.

so not that

"unless"

in other words, not that

@lostrib: Forgot what state we're talking about, so yeah lol.

well, abhorrent for sure, but maybe there's a silver lining that this will go up the court chain to SCOTUS, and fingers cross they'd rule on the side of human decency

But according to the article you can. It just simply has to be a religious belief.

Considering that religious belief incorporates a lot of religions, plus religions can simply be created, it's entirely possible for minorities to be discriminated against under this law.

This was meant almost entirely for Christians to use the Bible, and would not consider other religions, but you can damn well believe that anyone would use this law to their advantage.

If you're a business owner in Mississippi this is pretty damn good for you. Once one of your competitors refuses to serve someone you can say you don't discriminate and bam, you get extra business.

Ah so its okay to discriminate against groups that you approve of personally. Yeah, nothing hypocritical about that.

While it may be morally and ethically wrong to deny any service to someone based on race, sex, etc.., what business it is of the government to tell people whom they have to offer a service? The federal government of the United States is by far one of the most unethical, immoral and hypocritical entities ever to exist on this planet.

This is OUTRAGEOUS !!!!

Don't these backward hicks know that Gay rights trump ALL other rights !?!?!?!

You have no right of freedom of association if it interferes with Gay rights.

You have no right to your religious freedom if it interferes with Gay rights.

I mean, if a Jewish shop owner wants to refuse to serve a neo-Nazi dressed up in his Hitler costume, the Jew better be sure the Nazi is not gay.

Your tears are delicious.

Are you coming on to me ?!?!

If you want my body and you think I'm sexy come on sugar let me know

Going a bit overboard there

I have no tolerance for half-steppers like you.

Extremism in defense of Gay Rights is no vice.

Honestly, I don't have an issue with this.

Let businesses deny service to whomever they want, and then a good number of people will boycott those places and bring their money to businesses that don't discriminate.

If they want to shoot themselves in the foot, let them.

^^Agreed, it's their business so they should be able to run it in any way they see fit. With that said, perception means a lot in the eye of the general public so by denying service to a certain group of customers based on their beliefs or whatever could cast a dark cloud over that company and push potential customers elsewhere...

As well as bring more customers in that agree with the shop owner. Just look what happened with Chick-Fil-A. Gays tried to protest and in turn, Chick-Fil-A had huge lines of supporters coming to show their support and Chick-Fil-A made a lot of money from it.

Because everyone thought it was a crap protest. What the founders and owners of the company do with their money is no one's business. CFA's are independently owned franchises. So, in fact, by protesting, they were likely protesting someone who supported their lifestyle and even donated money to equal rights causes.

What they failed to understand is that CFA has a tremendous amount of loyalty. PArt of it is the religious right seeing a company founded by people who share the same religious beliefs. But the majority of it is that CFA offers a good product at a fair price with fantastic service. They are normally involved in local communities. They hire and train people to be polite and friendly. They have a corporate philosophy to excel at customer service and relations, even if it requires them to take a loss on sale (fixing an order for free, adding extra sauces, etc.) So while gays want to say it didn't work because of homophobes, they're only partially correct. It didn't work because everyone recognized what was going on and wanted to support a company they like. Which is the way free market economies should work.

it's the south. be thankful they only went this far and didn't start linching gays and colored folk.

Yeah, except for Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Arizona, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee.

lol at people defending it.

This will be overruled, socially backwards ideology is going to die anyway, but sometimes you have to give it a little push.

Both he and flubbs are trolls.

lol yea you got me

LOL, you troll anyone that doesn't bow down to queers.

Yep, which is why he is ignored by me and I never bother responding to him. There are like 7-10 people on these forums that get that kind of treatment from me. If you can't have a grownup conversation, I see no reason to read their post, let alone reply to them.

Pretty sure you're a troll as well. or just incredibly stupid.

Ironic that you mention having a grown up conversation. Have you ever said anything that contains any logic or facts? I assume you're just a 13 year old boy who knows nothing about society or politics other than what your daddy has told you.

**** the south.

Yeah, you should be able to turn away anyone but white people if you want...

I can't believe some of the responses here that basically boil down to "It's okay to pick and choose who we discriminate against."

:(:(.. if you dont like that then you should go somewhere else

If you want a country run by religion, move to Iran.

If you want a secular govenment, move to the Soviet Union (when it still existed)