Arizona Governor Jan Brewer Mulls Religious Protection Act

by JASmius

Well, it has been a few years since Arizona Republicans have provoked Eric "The Red" Holder into suing the state.  What better bait than slapping down the Lavender Lobby?:

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer says she will closely review a bill that would let business owners cite their religious beliefs as legal justification for refusing service to same-sex couples and others.

The legislation was approved Thursday with overwhelming Republican support, reports the Arizona Republic.

Brewer, a Republican, told CNN Friday she will review the bill carefully, but didn't reveal her opinion of the legislation.

Oh, I don't know; I think her opinion of the legislation is pretty clear:

"I think anybody that owns a business can choose who they work with or who they don't work with," Brewer commented to CNN in Washington, DC, where she is attending a governors' conference. "But I don't know that it needs to be statutory. In my life and in my businesses, if I don't want to do business or if I don't want to deal with a particular company or person or whatever, I'm not interested. That's America. That's freedom."

Can I just save us some time?  Governor Brewer is going to sign this bill.  Then the Department of Injustice & Revenge will contrive some grounds for suing Arizona to block it, and it'll probably be declared unconstitutional.  Pretty much an instant replay of the same process that took place four years ago over Arizona's illegal immigration bill.

That's almost beside the point.  The point of this bill is political, not legislative.  It's to send a message: the Lavender Lobby is not going to shove their anti-Christian persecution down, in this case, Arizonans' throats without a fight.  It's also to illustrate that the First Amendment already forbids the federal government from "prohibiting the free exercise of religion," and the Arizona constitution defines marriage thusly: "Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state."  In short, this legislation draws attention to the fact that religious liberty and freedom is already protected by federal and Arizona law, and it is homosexual militants that are violating both.  They're the ones who should be backhanded and told in no uncertain terms to back off and stop hunting Christian businesses to attack and harass and persecute to get shut down and destroyed.

It's one salvo in a long twilight struggle made all the longer by cowardice like the following:

Some Arizona business leaders voiced strong opposition to the religious freedom bill, as did most of the candidates to replace Brewer in the November election, reports the Arizona Capitol Times.

Barry Broome, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, and James Lundy, who chairs the organization's board of directors, sent a letter to Brewer Friday begging her to veto the bill, saying it would have “profound, negative effects on our business community for years to come," reports the Capitol Times.

They praised Brewer for the work she and the Arizona Commerce Authority have done strengthening the state's economy, but said the controversial bill will represent a setback.

The council also warned that the bill could cause problems by alienating businesses looking to relocate and hurt tourism as the state readies for next year's Super Bowl.

Uh-uh.  This legislation will not alienate businesses; it will alienate homosexual extremists who will target any business that doesn't publicly disavow it.  That's what the GPEC is afraid of, particularly with the added publicity of Super Bowl XLIX being in town a year from now.  Since the vast majority of businesses are mercenary rather than principled, they just want peace and quiet and are virulently allergic to "controversy".  Which is what Lefties count on in every such campaign on whatever issue.  Sorry, Mr. Broome, but there's a smidgen more at stake here than what you imagine to be your marginal opportunity costs.

I don't know what he's wetting his pants about, anyway - as I said above, the DOI&R will get the measure squashed in short order.  It'll probably have little or no impact on the Seattle Seahawks repeating as World Champions at the Toaster.  But the battle will rage on.  Because it has to.