{"id":885,"date":"2016-04-08T13:47:51","date_gmt":"2016-04-08T18:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/?p=885"},"modified":"2016-04-08T13:47:51","modified_gmt":"2016-04-08T18:47:51","slug":"anti-lbgt-legislation-and-religious-freedom-anyone-else-see-the-glaring-hypocrisy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/anti-lbgt-legislation-and-religious-freedom-anyone-else-see-the-glaring-hypocrisy\/","title":{"rendered":"Anti-LBGT Legislation and “Religious Freedom”: Anyone Else See The Glaring Hypocrisy?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Name of God: The Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring<\/em><\/p>\n

I have been watching with amazement the political rhetoric\u00a0of some politicians who vow to defend “religious liberty.” In several states, politicians have either enacted, or tried to enact<\/a>, laws that are clearly discriminatory against LGBT fellow citizens, in the name of “religious liberty.” The latest is Mississippi<\/a>, which passed a law, HB 1523, which:<\/p>\n

promises that the state government will not punish people who refuse to provide services to people because of a religious opposition to same-sex marriage, extramarital sex or transgender people.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How can this not be considered discriminatory? How is this any different than refusing to serve a client who is Muslim, or African-American, or has attached earlobes? Can you imagine what would happen\u00a0if a Muslim business owner refused to serve an LBGT\u00a0client\u00a0out of his “religious beliefs”? There would be howls of protest that these Muslims are seeking to “impose Sharia law” on the rest of the country.\u00a0In fact, one such site has it’s first sentence <\/a>of the article saying: “Muslims are determined to push their religious doctrines on the American people.”<\/p>\n

Yet, more than one state is seeking to protect individuals who refuse to serve people due to their sexual orientation, in the name of “religious freedom.” Isn’t that “pushing religious doctrine” on other people, as well? Moreover, what about all the states that have laws banning “Sharia”? <\/a>What about the religious freedom of Muslims?<\/p>\n

Religious freedom is sacred in our country; it is one of the most beautiful aspects of America, and it is one of the things about which I am most grateful to God for being an American and living in America. Yet, my religious freedom does not give me\u00a0the right to discriminate against other people.<\/p>\n

For example, I do not drink, out of my religious beliefs. But, I would NEVER refuse to treat someone in my ICU for alcohol withdrawal because his or her actions “violate my religious beliefs.” If any doctor ever did that, Muslim or otherwise, he or she would be wrong and unethical. Period. And, for the record, if a Muslim business owner would refuse to serve an LGBT customer, in the name of Islam, I stand against that. That customer is a human being with dignity and deserves respect, regardless of his or her race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.<\/p>\n

Although it is 2016, we still grapple, as a nation,\u00a0with issues of racism and discrimination. It is quite troubling that, now, some politicians are using “religious liberty” as a cover to shield that discimination.\u00a0As a person of faith, it is quite troubling indeed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the Name of God: The Extremely and Eternally Loving and Caring I have been watching with amazement the political rhetoric\u00a0of some politicians who vow to defend “religious liberty.” In several states, politicians have either enacted, or tried to enact, laws that are clearly discriminatory against LGBT fellow citizens, in the name of “religious liberty.”…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[723,722,11,720,719,721,317],"class_list":["post-885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-common-word","tag-discrimination","tag-hypocrisy","tag-islam","tag-laws","tag-lgbt","tag-mississippi","tag-sharia-2"],"yoast_head":"\nAnti-LGBT Laws and "Religious Freedom": Full of Hypocrisy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The laws allowing businesses to discriminate against LGBT customers in the name of "religious liberty" are wrong and full of glaring hypocrisy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Anti-LGBT Laws and "Religious Freedom": Full of Hypocrisy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The laws allowing businesses to discriminate against LGBT customers in the name of "religious liberty" are wrong and full of glaring hypocrisy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/anti-lbgt-legislation-and-religious-freedom-anyone-else-see-the-glaring-hypocrisy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Word, Common Lord\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-08T18:47:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hesham A. 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Hassaballa","description":"Hesham A. Hassaballa is a Chicago doctor and writer. He has written extensively on a freelance basis, being published in newspapers across the country and around the world. He has been a Beliefnet columnist since 2001, and has written for the Religion News Service. He is also a columnist for Patheos. His articles have been distributed worldwide by Agence Global, and he was also a guest blogger for The Chicago Tribune and has blogged on ChicagoNow\" . In addition, Dr. Hassaballa has appeared as a guest on WTTW (Channel 11) in Chicago, CNN, Fox News, BBC, and National Public Radio. Dr. Hassaballa is co-author of The Beliefnet Guide to Islam (Doubleday), and his essay, \u201cWhy I Love the Ten Commandments,\u201d was published in the award-winning book Taking Back Islam (Rodale). His latest book, Noble Brother, is the story of the Prophet Muhammad told entirely in poetry, and it is now published in its second edition. In 2007, his blog \"God, Faith, and a Pen\" was nominated for a Brass Crescent Award for a blog that is \u201cthe most stimulating, insightful, and philosophical, providing the best rebuttals to extremist ideology and making an impact whenever they post.\u201d \"God, Faith, and a Pen\" has also received an award for being one of the \"Top Muslim Blogs for 2010\" by Awarding The Web. In addition to writing, Dr. Hassaballa helped found the Chicago Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations and currently serves on their board of directors. He also co-founded the Bayan H. 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