Senate Bill 1062

Well, I was hoping to ease into the blogosphere world, but today’s topic is huge in the state of Arizona. Senate Bill 1062 is just setting there on Governor Brewer’s desk waiting to be either vetoed, signed into law, or it could just lay there a few more days and then automatically become law. I think the latter choice would be the cowardly way, so just do something already! SB1062 is designed to permit anyone in Arizona to refuse business or service based on “religious freedom.” Most proponents of the bill claim it would protect people from having to serve those they disagree with based on their own religious beliefs. Whereas, most opponents of the potential law insist it would allow businesses the right to refuse service to anyone they deem religiously unfit, in essence allowing for legalized hate, particularly against homosexuals. The one thing both sides seem to have in common is that each group considers themselves to be the victims.

The truth as I know it is business is business, and religion is religion, so I don’t think God would condemn a business owner for providing a service to a customer who happens to have a different sexual preference than their own. For some reason, unbeknownst to me, many Christians tend to be very boisterous about their opposition to homosexuality, yet those same Christians seem willing to give unwed heterosexual couples who are living together a “moral pass.” My Bible says that sin is sin, and although we have all sinned the Good News is we can be forgiven. That being said, by no means do I think any church should ever be forced to perform gay marriages.

Recently, a cake decorating business made the news for denying service, due to their religious convictions, to a lesbian couple. I have to wonder if that same business would have refused service to liars, cheaters, or gossipers. What about those potential customers who may have been divorced, had sex before marriage, or gave birth to a child out of wedlock? Not to mention Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, or even Catholics since many of their practices differ fundamentally from that of the beliefs of most Christians. If so, I don’t think a business like that would ever be able to survive.

In many cases what we like about this country is the diversity and uniqueness of our fellow man. It is much harder to find someone just like ourselves than someone different from us. Common sense dictates SB1062 would create many more problems than it could possibly ever fix.