Reconciling Ministries Network "Pastoral letter on Indiana RFRA" for Thursday, 2 April 2015 - RMN and the National Council of The Fellowship issue pastoral letter
Even on Holy Thursday, a night when he faced betrayal and arrest, Jesus embodied hospitality—washing his disciples’ feet, and sharing bread and wine with his betrayer. On this Maundy Thursday, and as we approach Good Friday and Easter, we remember the indiscriminate servant love of Jesus Christ, who served all as a call and example for people to follow.
Last week the state of Indiana passed a law that went further than any other state or federal version of a “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” (RFRA). Indiana’s law, and other laws being considered in Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, and other states are different from previous state and federal versions because they allow individuals and for-profit businesses to deny services to individuals citing religious beliefs. Indiana’s RFRA law was written and supported in part by anti-gay activists on the heels of marriage equality being passed in the state. The law passed was so broad that it left many marginalized people unprotected from potential discrimination based on their sexual orientation, race, gender identity, age, ethnicity, ability, and religion.
Even as a possible fix is under way, it remains up to the Indiana legislature who thought to pass this law in the first place, and indeed to every follower of Christ to sincerely work to protect people on the margins of society.
Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN) and the National Council of The Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts (FUMMWA) are joining together in this pastoral letter because we believe discrimination has no place in our nation or church. We call on all people of faith to boldly join us in pointing to Holy Week, which culminates in resurrection, not death—and celebrates hospitality, not discrimination.
We are called to indiscriminate love by Jesus Christ:
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34).
We are called to indiscriminate love by our worship:
- I will hold the Christ-light for you in the night-time of your fear;
- I will hold my hand out to you, speak the peace you long to hear.
- I will weep when you are weeping; when you laugh, I’ll laugh with you.
- I will share your joy and sorrow till we’ve seen this journey through.(Richard Gillard; The Faith We Sing, 2222)
- We recognize that God made all creation and saw that it was good. As a diverse people of God who bring special gifts and evidences of God’s grace to the unity of the Church and to society, we are called to be faithful to the example of Jesus’ ministry to all persons. Inclusiveness means openness, acceptance, and support that enables all persons to participate in the life of the Church, the community, and the world; therefore, inclusiveness denies every semblance of discrimination. The services of worship of every local church of The United Methodist Church shall be open to all persons. The mark of an inclusive society is one in which all persons are open, welcoming, fully accepting, and supporting of all other persons, enabling them to participate fully in the life of the church, the community, and the world (¶140: Called to Inclusiveness, United Methodist Book Of Discipline, 2012).
As The Fellowship heads to Indianapolis and RMN to San Antonio in July and August for our upcoming national gatherings, we join the chorus of individuals, corporations, and religious groups calling on Indiana, Texas, and other states to repeal harmful RFRA laws which allow discrimination. Many of our lives have been impacted by discrimination, so we are called to make space for all persons at God’s table. By meeting in these locations, we can make a powerful witness to our commitment to creating space where all are welcome.
Like Jesus, let us find new ways to serve all people as a call and example for people to follow.
Read about potential changes to "fix" Indiana lawWhat The ‘Fix’ To Indiana’s ‘Religious Freedom’ Bill Does And Does Not Do bY IAN MILLHISER
"What The ‘Fix’ To Indiana’s ‘Religious Freedom’ Bill Does And Does Not Do"
CREDIT: AP PHOTO/DARRON CUMMINGS
Indiana lawmakers released a widely awaited “fix” on Thursday to a new Indiana law that, as it exists right now, can be invoked by anti-gay businesses who wish to discriminate against LGBT individuals in violation of local ordinances. The fix does nothing to expand LGBT rights beyond where they stood on the day before Gov. Mike Pence (R-IN) signed the new Indiana law. Nevertheless, it appears to be expansive enough to neutralize attempts to wield the Indiana law as a sword to cut down LGBT rights protections at the local level.
To understand how the “fix” is likely to work, it’s important to first understand the current state of Indiana’s LGBT rights law, as well as how the bill Pence signed into law functions. At the state level, Indianadoes not protect LGBT people from discrimination by private businesses. Several Indiana cities and counties, however, including the city of Indianapolis, have enacted local ordinances protecting against many forms of anti-LGBT discrimination.
The law that Pence recently signed is modeled on the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), although it contains several provisions that are more expansive than federal RFRA. Broadly speaking, RFRAs permit individuals who object to a law on religious grounds to elect not to comply with the law unless the government has a very strong justification for making them obey the law. Prior to the Supreme Court’s 2014 decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, federal RFRA did not permit religious objectors to use those objections to diminish the rights of others. Hobby Lobby, however, changed that balance — at least at the federal level — permitting a company whose owners objected to many forms of birth control to reduce their employees’ access to contraception.
Without the fix, Indiana’s RFRA could enable anti-LGBT businesses to deny service or employment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, even in cities or counties that have enacted anti-discrimination ordinances, so long as the business owner’s discriminatory views are rooted in religious belief. The core provisions of the fix change this equation considerably:
Indiana’s RFRA will no longer trump state or local laws banning anti-gay discrimination: The fix provides that Indiana’s RFRA does not authorize businesses “to refuse to offer or provide services, facilities, use of public accommodation, goods, employment, or housing to any member or members of the general public” on the basis of a list of protected traits that includes “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” Another provision provides that the state’s RFRA law does not “establish a defense to a civil action or criminal prosecution” brought against someone who engages in such discrimination. This language appears broad enough to permit local ordinances protecting gay and trans rights to function against business owners with religious objections to LGBT people. It also would enable a similar state law to function, were the Indiana legislature to pass such a law in the future.
The fix does nothing about Hobby Lobby: At the same press conference where Pence announced that he was open to language protecting against anti-LGBT discrimination, he alsocited the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision as an example of what he hoped the fixed RFRA bill would still accomplish. It remains to be seen whether the Indiana courts will interpret the state’s RFRA bill the way that the Supreme Court read federal RFRA in Hobby Lobby — that is, whether they will allow religious objections to be used to diminish the rights of others. It is likely, however, that state courts will follow the Supreme Court’s lead, as they often do when tasked with interpreting similar laws.
The fix does not apply to religious groups: Though the fix protects against discrimination by most individuals and businesses, it does still permit RFRA to be invoked by churches, nonprofit religious organizations or clergy who engage in discrimination.
LGBT people in Indiana gain no new rights from the fix: In the wake of the backlash against the original Indiana RFRA law, many LGBT rights groups hope that the state would enact anti-discrimination provisions protecting gay and trans people in Indiana at the state level. The fix includes none of these protections. What that means is that LGBT people who live in cities like Indianapolis will regain the rights they already enjoyed before the state RFRA law took effect, but LGBT people who were unprotected before this law will remain unprotected.
Although the fix does nothing to expand LGBT rights, anti-gay groups started complaining about it days before its language even became public. Micah Clark, the head of the American Family Association of Indiana who stood behind Pence as he signed the RFRA bill into law, complained on Monday that language preventing the law from being used to discriminate “could totally destroy this bill.” Advance America, another anti-gay group whose leader attended the RFRA bill signing, published an alert claiming that the state legislature is “About To Destroy Religious Freedom Protection in Indiana!“
Dear Bishop Coyner...from a gay UMC minister: Yes, I am afraid, because I am gay. That is why I respond in the faith rooted in the prophetic word.
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