The State Senate in Michigan has sparked a firestorm by adding language to an anti-bullying bill that would exempt statements of sincerely held religious beliefs and convictions. Do anti-bullying provisions need religious freedom exceptions? Time's Amy Sullivan says no, but tries to explain:
[S]ocial conservatives believe that efforts to protect gays from assault, discrimination or bullying impinge on their religious freedom to express and act on their belief that homosexuality is an abomination. That’s stating it harshly, but it is the underlying belief.
This belief, however, relies on a warped understanding of religious liberty. Freedom of religious expression doesn’t give someone the right to kick the crap out of a gay kid or to verbally torment her. It doesn’t give someone the right to fire a gay employee instead of dealing with the potential discomfort of working with him.
See also Baptist minister Paul Rausenbush's take at the Huffington Post.
The idea that religious beliefs require special provision within a law meant to protect the most vulnerable should be an affront to all religious people. It is an affront to me as a Baptist minister. The bill intimates that we people of faith require special loopholes for our irresistible urges to bully people based on our very, very sincerely held beliefs.
You can read the text of the bill passed by the MI Senate last week here.
