Kansas House Bill 2453

Is Kansas House Bill 2453 a good policy? Why have so many states considered legislation similar to it?

            If a murderer came up to you and asked you for money so that he could go kill somebody, would you give him the money? Of course not! Would it be right for the government to have power to force you to give them money? No!

            This is obviously a very extreme example, but the same principle applies to Kansas House Bill 2453. This bill would allow businesses to refuse service to a people because they are gay or lesbian. Is this bill a good policy? It may not seem like one, but let me give you the whole story first.

            Kansas House Bill 2453 is meant to protect the religious freedom of businesses, business owners, and employees. It states that no business or person will be forced to serve another. I think that the biggest problem with this bill not being passed is the people being denied their rights. One of the most basic unalienable rights that each person is endowed with is the liberty of conscience or religion. You have a right to choose right (or wrong). You have a right to refrain from doing wrong. Included in this right is the right to refrain from supporting others in their wrong decisions, because to many people, supporting someone else in doing wrong is doing wrong.

This right is the most important right to mankind. This agency to choose right or wrong was endowed to each person by their Creator, and it cannot be taken away by any man. However, just like any other right, this right can only go so far as to not infringe upon the rights of others. You can choose wrong, but if you’re hurting someone else by choosing wrong, then that person’s right to choose right is being infringed upon. Gay marriage is wrong. That is truth. The Bible says it, and God has declared it from the creation of the world. Adam and Eve were not Adam and Steve. People can be gay if they want, but they can’t be infringing on other people’s rights by being gay. Let me give you a few examples to illustrate what I am trying to say.

The LA Times reported in 2014 that a New Mexico photography company was fined thousands of dollars for “discriminating” when they refused to shoot a lesbian wedding.[1] This is absurd! Any reasonable person can surely see that. Keep in mind that these are private businesses. Private businesses should be able to serve whoever they desire, and they should be able to refuse service to any person that they want. The government should not regulate that.

The biggest problem here is the ignorance of Americans on what is
morally right

Another instance of this happened in December of 2013 when ABC News reported[2] that an administrative law judge ruled that a Colorado baker that refused to make a cake for a gay couple (a cake that would not have manikins of a man and a woman on the top, but manikins of a man and a man) broke the law, and would have to face fines for refusing these gays. Yet another instance of this happened in Oregon, when a bakery was forced to relocate because it refused to serve a lesbian couple.[3]

Come on, really? This is just ridiculous. The blame for this problem needs to go to the ignorance of Americans. Kansas House Bill 2453 never passed. It was shot down by the Kansas Senate. However, many other states have considered legislation similar to it. Why is this even important? To tell you the truth, I can’t thing of a more significant subject to discuss. Many people in this world view choosing the right and exercising their right to conscience or religion more important than their very lives. If our lives aren’t important, then tell me something that is. This subject is so important.

That is the very reason why so many other states have considered legislation similar to this one. CNN reported in 2014 that seven other states—Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Idaho, and Arizona, respectively—have considered legislation similar to Kansas House Bill 2453.[4] However, none of these considerations have done anything. No other bills with this same policy have been passed save one, and that bill came from Arizona.

This bill that was passed in Arizona would allow businesses to discriminate against virtually anybody from gays to red t-shirt wearers. This may seem extreme, but really, a business should be able to serve and refrain from serving whoever they desire. If you own your own business, you should be able to refrain from serving people with red t-shirts if you so desire. I don’t see why you would want to do that, but you should be able to. Even the Arizona bill, though, never went into effect because of the ignorance of politicians. The governor of Arizona vetoed the bill shortly after it was passed, saying that it was “poorly worded, and could result in unintended and negative consequences.”[5] Unbelievable.

This policy has been considered by so many other states because it is such an issue right now. There are a lot more gays and lesbians right now in the world because of the wickedness of the world right now and the influence of wrong. This is a corrupt world. Also, many circumstances have taken place to get people interested in this topic. Some examples of this have already been mentioned, but there are more. Consider Utah, for example. Just recently, a federal judge came in and overturned amendment 3 of the Utah Constitution, which states that marriage shall be defined as between a man and a woman. This appeal is currently on hold, so it is up in the air right now. People are picking sides, and many are choosing the side that is morally incorrect.

How can we fix this problem? So much of this country has already been led astray. Is it even possible to eliminate the problem? Perhaps not fully, but we can do something, just like so many people before us have. We need to fight for our rights and defend our religious freedom, not physically, but through our words and our ideas. We need a revolution; not a bloody one but one of thoughts and ideas.

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[1] Paresh, Dave. “What's behind Arizona plan to let businesses refuse to serve gays?” LA Times. February 22, 2014. <http://articles.latimes.com/2014/feb/22/nation/la-na-nn-arizona-gays-sb-1062-20140222#ixzz2uHqip2nH>

[2] Fields, Liz. “Judge Orders Colorado Bakery to Cater for Same-Sex Weddings.” ABC News. December 7, 2013. <http://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-orders-colorado-bakery-cater-sex-weddings/story?id=21136505>

[3] Hallowell, Billy. “Baker Who Lost Shop After Refusing Gay Couple’s Wedding Cake Has Surprise Reaction to Ongoing Attacks: ‘My Eternal Home Is What Matters’.” The Blaze. September 5, 2013. <http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/09/05/burn-in-hell-you-racist-pigs-christian-baker-who-refused-to-make-lesbian-couples-wedding-cake-details-creepy-alleged-break-in-ongoing-challenges/>

[4] Whitaker, Matthew C. “Arizona's shameful 'right to discriminate' bill.” CNN News. February 22, 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/22/opinion/whitaker-arizona-law/>

[5] Serwer, Adam. “States fight to push anti-gay bills. But will they pass?” MSN News. February 20, 2014. <http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/states-push-anti-gay-bills-will-they-pass>