And now Mississippi has passed Religious Freedom Protection Bill

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None of the legislators speaking in support of it were ever able to name even a single instance of a Mississippi Christian being forced to do something against their religion.


Also, there were rumors that Phil Bryant might veto it, since his son is gay, but no, he signed it proudly.

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This is a state version of the federal law passed in the 1990s that stopped the feds from prosecuting peyote use in the Native American Church.   Of course it couldn't be passed today because gay rights.

Actually, one of the Democrats in the legislature specifically asked one of the sponsors from the floor if this would allow Native Americans to use peyote, and the answer is no.

[7,052,770]

This is a state version of the federal law passed in the 1990s that stopped the feds from prosecuting peyote use in the Native American Church.   Of course it couldn't be passed today because gay rights.

I swear the left's memory is getting shorter and shorter.

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I guess you just ignored the fact that THIS EXACT EXAMPLE is specifically excluded from protections in this bill, per its authors? I guess all you cared about was getting in your little quip, facts be damned...

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This is what the bill says:

     (5)  (a)  Government shall not substantially burden a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection.
          (b)  Government may substantially burden a person's exercise of religion only if it demonstrates that application of the burden to the person:
              (i)  Is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and
              (ii)  Is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.


Every supporter of the bill says that 5.b.i. will prevent any religious-based drug use since preventing drug use in Mississippi has always been considered a "compelling governmental interest."

Maybe a judge will provide a different interpretation and turn the tables on the Fringe Right supporters of this law (and that would be awesome), but we don't even have any peyote-smoking Indians in this state, nor do we have liberal judges who would do that anyway. Sure, I guess after a few years some federal judge could use this law to rule in favor of a non-Christian, but this law will almost certainly just be struck down for discrimination purposes long before that.

Why the Right wants to bury their heads in the sand and pretend this isn't about gays (remember, it has already been established by the state that protecting gay equality is NOT a "compelling governmental interest") is beyond me. Remember, this law was specifically written because similar, more-explicitly anti-gay bills were being proposed in other states.