On Monday state Rep. Jason Villalba, R-Dallas, said he would no longer support his HJR 55, a controversial state constitutional amendment that supporters claim protects religious freedom in Texas but in reality opens the door to using religion to discriminate and harm others. On Wednesday, state Rep. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, refiled the measure as HJR 125.
HJR 55, HJR 125 and SJR 10 by state Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, would allow businesses, government officials and employees, and other individuals to ignore laws they claim offend their religious beliefs, including laws that bar discrimination against LGBT Texans and others.
The conservative Texas Association of Business has warned that the amendments would make Texas appear unwelcoming, hurt the state’s ability to recruit new businesses and thereby create “an environment that is hostile to business and economic development.” Rep. Villalba says he has been persuaded that this is a problem and that he will not ask for a committee hearing or vote on HJR 55:
“I cannot and I will not support legislation, however well-intentioned, that would result in harming the job creators who are so very valuable to the Texas economy.”
But Rep. Krause doesn’t care about that, apparently. Protecting the ability to discriminate — especially against LGBT Texans — is more important to him. In fact, Rep. Krause is one of the most aggressive religious-righters in the Texas House. In the 2013 session of the Texas Legislature, for example, he sponsored a bill that would have forced public colleges and universities to give their formal approval to student organizations that discriminate about LGBT students. (His bill failed to pass the Legislature.)
In any case, we again have at least two lawmakers pushing constitutional amendments that would sweep away the state’s existing Religious Freedom Restoration Act — a well-crafted law that has worked well for more than 15 years. If enacted, those amendments would allow people to use religion as a weapon to divide our communities and harm others while undermining the fundamental principle that laws should apply to everyone.
Idiots. There will come a day when they, as “christians” are discriminated against….none too soon.
This old cartoon about how it would be if the shoe was on the other foot still says it all 🙂
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TxiEXuGAg88/UFbW717E1sI/AAAAAAAAAFA/-SNFQL7qb44/s1600/demonic+prayer.jpg
Once again I have to point out that ANY LAWS RESPECTING RELIGION is unconstitutional! The first amendment prohibits Congress from making any laws respecting religion…
That also means that no other lawmakers can pass laws that are biblically based.
Although it seemingly started to be legally discriminate against LGBT human beings, there is nothing in what prevents those so-called “religious freedom restoration” acts from discriminating against people like me–I killed Jesus the Christ. Yup, me ALONE, went back a couple of thousands and killed the guy all by myself. Never mind that he was executed for the crime of sedition, never mind that I wasn’t there, “I” had killed Jesus and thus deserved any punishment that the Christians wished to mete out to me.
Yup, I’m a genuine Christ killer. I am a Jew and if you don’t think that Christians would not decide to discriminate against people like me, think again.
This is just another nail in the coffin of our republic. The TEAliban want to turn this Constitutional Republic we all hold dear into a FASCIST state. We will be one in less than 20 years unless we decide to be AMERICANS and vote all of the TEAliban OUT of office.
There are so many ways of disproving the Christian beliefs that is very amusing to me that they still are around.
Paul wrote the Christian books, not Mat, Luke…none of them. They were illiterate as most people were back then but Paul was a scholar (but not a a gentleman) and only he had the background in the bible to do what he did.
Jesus was not executed because of the Jews, he was executed as a criminal, his buds kept calling him the King of the Jews. That was sedition in the minds of the Romans, so IF he really ever existed, he was executed as a common criminal.
His blood did not do a thing for the forgiveness of sins. His so-called virgin birth came from the Roman and Greek gods who were ALL virgin born, executed at an early age, and rose from the dead. In short, Christianity is built on a MYTH.
I personally know how he died because I killed him. Yup, I got into a time machine and personally offed the guy. At least that is what Christians are told because a hand full of people said “his blood be on us and our descendants.” What a crock!
The Sanhedrin never met at night, also it was Passover and they would be in their homes having a Seder.
Christianity is based on nothing. God never required a blood sacrifice–NEVER. Most Jews at that time had NEVER given a blood sacrifice. If they were too poor to give a blood sacrifice at the Temple, they could offer FLOUR and as far as I know flour has no blood.
Christians do not understand that the bible and the Christian books were not written a hundred years ago, they were written for a day and age in which is was written. Hell, they don’t even that there is no hell, it’s all from Greek myths. They called it Hades.
God has never become human.
Now about some other bits about Jesus. We know who Socrates was, we know about Euclid, we know about all the ancients because they are mentioned in many, many books. You cannot ever show me any place where Jesus is mentioned in ANY book. You can’t because he never existed and you cannot prove otherwise.
Yeah, I’m not a Christian even though some missionaries to the Jews tried to lie to me about blood needed to used for atonement.
They got that from Leviticus 17:11. Unlike too many of my people, they figured that I was just as ignorant as so many are. No, that verse, like any other verse, cannot stand alone! That verse went back to the earlier verses that told Jews that they cannot eat blood. The 17th verse explains WHY.
The idiot Jehovah’s Witnesses take the same verses and will not take blood transfusions. I hate to tell them–getting infused is NOT the same as DRINKING. Jerks!
Had I not had 47 units of blood and plasma, I’d be dead from the hemorrhagic stroke I had 30 years ago.
When I worked at a hospital, I had to call a judge when mothers refused to let their child get a transfusion. The judge signed the papers that saved the child’s life. We did not particularly care about the mother because SHE chose to die, but we would not let a newborn die.
Christianity and Islam have started every single war since whenever.
Okay, I am through for now. But if EVERY religion, including mine, is THE RELIGION, then which one is the real “right” one?
I happen to belong to a religion that is the only religion not started by a man or woman. Read it, it’s in the bible.
“Even a fool is considered wise when he keeps his mouth shut” That is a verse from Proverbs. It’s in the Bible. Thank you for reminding me of it’s truth. I’ll return the favor by suggesting that you become educated on a matter before displaying another melodramatic work of fiction. What I just read is nothing more that parroted rhetoric and ignorance.