Gov. Bobby Jindal: "We Won't be Bullied Into Dumping Religious Freedoms"

Ben Johnson : Apr 29, 2015
LifeSiteNews

"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." – Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal in a New York Times op-ed

(Washington, DC)—Although other Republican governors have "quickly cowered" when large corporations place the homosexual agenda ahead of religious liberty, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal vowed today to defend freedom of conscience from anyone—whether the assault comes from Hollywood liberals, activist judges, homosexual pressure groups, or even a traditional Republican ally like Big Business. (Photo via LifeSiteNews/Shutterstock)

In a New York Times op-ed that combined constitutional philosophy with political strategy, Jindal wrote those who believe in traditional values are under assault from a well-funded alliance of secular "progressive" elitists from L.A. to Wall Street.

"Hollywood and the media elite are hostile to our values and they tip the scales to our liberal opponents at every opportunity," he wrote. "Liberals have decided that if they can't win at the ballot box, they will win in the boardroom."

The two-term governor had a simple message for anyone who would try to get him to change his position on marriage or religious protections: "Save your breath."

Jindal said he had already received corporate pushback as he fought for his state's pending Marriage and Conscience Act (H.B. 707).

Contrary to media caricatures of Religious Freedom Restoration Acts—like the one Jindal signed in 2010—RFRA bills do not create a blanket right for businesses to discriminate against homosexuals. However, a devout business owner would not have to violate his, or her, conscience by participating in a same-sex "marriage" ceremony, a ritual with clearly religious implications.

"As a nation we would not compel a priest, minister or rabbi to violate his conscience and perform a same-sex wedding ceremony," Jindal wrote. "But a great many Americans who are not members of the clergy feel just as called to live their faith through their businesses."

Jindal's proposed H.B. 707 would add an additional layer of legal protection by preventing the state from denying state funding, licenses, or taking any "adverse action" against business owners who refused to participate in or recognize same-sex "marriages."

That has not made corporate interests, which often favor left-leaning social policies, happy.

Jindal, who is a likely 2016 presidential hopeful, said he is "certain that other companies, under pressure from radical liberals, will" follow suit, "but they will not deter me."

He added that denying religious freedom would rend our fraying social fabric. "A pluralistic and diverse society like ours can exist only if we all tolerate people who disagree with us," he counseled. "That's why religious freedom laws matter."

Bill Donohue of the Catholic League said that Jindal walked the line between conscience and charity perfectly, acting as "both a defender of religious liberty and an opponent of unjust discrimination."

The Catholic spokesman called the governor's "willingness to publicly chastise corporations, from Wal-Mart to Wall Street, that have jumped on board the gay-marriage bandwagon" as "perhaps the boldest and most refreshing part of Jindal's essay."

Economic freedom alone is not enough to maintain liberty, he said. "A free society depends as much on the virtue of its citizens as it does any factor."

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