Jeff Sessions and his “Religious Liberty Task Force” hellhole
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has announced the implementation of the “Religious Liberty Task Force.” Sessions has sold this idea by claiming religious freedom for conservative Christians. The aim of the task force is to help lawmakers interpret law in the “right” way to make it legally okay for conservative Christians to discriminate against the LGBTQ community by refusing service. There are other implications as well, but this issue is the main focal point.
They interpret refusal of service as a legitimate extension of their religious beliefs as Christians and claim to uphold Christian values. However, the other side of the issue would argue that refusing service to someone based on sexual orientation is outright discrimination, and the LGBTQ community should have equal rights, as anyone else. After all, shouldn’t freedom be freedom for all, regardless of sexual orientation, or religion, for that matter?
The problem is, you can refuse service to anyone in your establishment, unless there is a law expressly forbidding it. However, you can’t go around inciting violence and hate speech against anyone for their sexual orientation, for example. Unfortunately, there is no law currently on the books that expressly forbids anyone from refusing service due to homosexuality. Can one interpret the law to see refusal of service as hate speech? Perhaps one can, just as Attorney General Sessions can teach others how to interpret the law to shelter those claiming Christianity as a defense of anti-LGBTQ discrimination. With such a mind in the office of Attorney General, and with a stacked Supreme Court, we just may be facing a legal hellhole.
Homosexuality, to conservative Christians, is a moral issue, not a legal issue. It is a shame we do not have an Attorney General who is able to recognize such a difference. He is misrepresenting the spirit of America by using freedom of religion to shelter those who would discriminate based on sexual orientation. Until we elect lawmakers who believe all are equal under the law, we are failing to uphold the values of our democracy. Shame on Jeff Sessions for abusing his position to promote discrimination. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is trying to legitimize discrimination under the guise of religious freedom, in a country where we built our foundation on equal treatment to all, despite our individual beliefs. Such is the cornerstone of our democracy.
