On Oct. 6, house bill 1523, also known as the “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act,” went into effect.
This means employers and businesses have the right to refuse service based upon religious convictions.
According to the bill, if a person who provides a service declines to serve someone, the government cannot step in and force the business to so.
However, the owner or employee would lose profits from what could have been a sale, and potentially lose even more money from the bad reputation denying customers may create.
This bill garnered a large amount of partisan support from the Republican Party. According to LegiScan, 70 republicans voted for the bill, and 38 Democrats voted against it.
It was logical for Republicans to pass the bill, since it furthers the interests of their generally religious supporters. Section 3 of the bill states the state government cannot force a religious organization to do something going against its beliefs.
So for example, a Baptist church could not be forced to hold a gay marriage in its church because its members do not “believe” in gay marriage.
This is the only good thing about the bill, as religious organizations should not be forced to do something against their beliefs.
According to Larrison Campbell for the Mississippi Today, the case against the legislation was dismissed by the fifth circuit court because there was not any evidence the law caused injury to the plaintiff. This basically means the law had yet to cause harm against the person who entered the suit.
This law is very definitive in its language, and appears to state only Christian beliefs are being considered in this law.
This is dangerous because it is a breach of separation of church and state—the government should not favor one religion over another.
Because of this law, it can be speculated it will not be much longer until a Muslim butcher refuses to provide pork to a Christian, or an LGBTQ photographer refuses to photograph a straight wedding.
This bill creates a slippery slope, which is why it is dangerous for Mississippians, and dangerous to our state economy.
However, people will simply find someone else to provide services in a situation where they are denied from a certain business.
Although businesses will not face consequences from the government, loss of profit from discrimination could cause them dire consequences. For this same reason, this law will have little effect on the LGBT community, as they will find someone who will provide the service.
Capitalism is and will always be the governing law of business, and consumers are the ones who have the power in the market place.
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House Bill 1523 takes effect in MS
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