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Sunday, March 29, 2015

Indianapolis March Protests Religious Uncharitableness Law


"Indiana, A Great Place To Be A Bigot!" Excellent Video Spoof
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/03/indiana-great-place-to-be-bigot.html

"Bad Religion: A Compendium"

"Any Religion That Needs Fear To Thrive Is Bad Religion"

Good Religion And Bad Religion

"You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image 
when it turns out God hates all the same people you do."
Tom Weston S. J.

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.
Devout Christian, Blaise Pascal

"The terrible thing about our time is precisely the ease with which theories can be put into practice.  The more perfect, the more idealistic the theories, the more dreadful is their realization.  We are at last beginning to rediscover what perhaps men knew better in very ancient times, in primitive times before utopias were thought of: that liberty is bound up with imperfection, and that limitations, imperfections, errors are not only unavoidable but also salutary. The best is not the ideal.  Where what is theoretically best is imposed on everyone as the norm, then there is no longer any room even to be good.  The best, imposed as a norm, becomes evil.”  
"Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander,” by Trappist monk, Father Thomas Merton

Thousands march in Indiana to protest law seen targeting gays

(Reuters) - Thousands of people marched in Indiana's largest city on Saturday to protest a state law that supporters contend promotes religious freedom but detractors see as a covert move to support discrimination against gay people.
Waving signs reading "No hate in our state" and carrying rainbow flags, a crowd of at least 2,000 people including Democratic elected officials rallied the same day that business-rating website Angie's List Inc put on hold its plans to expand its Indianapolis operation with new offices, citing the new law.
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act was passed overwhelmingly by the Republican led-state legislature and signed into law on Thursday by Indiana Governor Mike Pence.
Supporters say the legislation will keep the government from forcing business owners to act against strongly held religious beliefs. Opponents say it is discriminatory against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and broader than other states' religious freedom laws.
"This bill is not about discrimination and does not in any way legalize discrimination in Indiana," said Pence's spokeswoman, Kara Brooks.
That statement did little to assuage the concerns of Rick Sutton, one of the marchers.
"It's a great sound bite but it's not the truth. I'm not protected. LGBT citizens are not protected," Sutton said. "If we were protected, we would not be there right now."
Indiana's also drew criticism from business leaders.
"Angie's List is open to all and discriminates against none and we are hugely disappointed in what this bill represents," company chief executive Bill Oesterle said.
Seattle's openly gay mayor, Ed Murray, said on Saturday he will ban city employees from traveling to Indiana on official business.
"None of our taxpayer dollars should go toward supporting this discriminatory law," Murray said.
The National Basketball Association and Women's National Basketball Association said in a joint statement the basketball leagues would ensure all fans, players and employees feel welcome at events in Indiana and elsewhere.
"The game of basketball is grounded in long established principles of inclusion and mutual respect," they said.
On Friday, Apple Inc's Tim Cook, one of the most prominent openly gay American CEOs, joined other executives, including Salesforce.com Inc's Marc Benioff, in blasting the law.
A day after Indiana's move, the Arkansas Senate overwhelmingly approved a similar bill, which Governor Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, has said he would sign into law.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc, which has its home office in Bentonville, Arkansas, criticized that measure.

(Reporting by Abdul-Hakim Shabazz and Nate Chute in Indianapolis; Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles and Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Scott Malone and Marguerita Choy)

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