Several states have recently introduced bills that would allow people to withhold services to their fellow Americans if they base their decision on "sincerely held religious beliefs." In Arizona, one of these bills has made it all the way to Gov. Jan Brewer's desk, and she is currently deciding whether or not to sign the bill into law.
These bills are deemed necessary by religious conservatives on account of several cases where Christian business owners refused to offer services to LGBT people, claiming that serving them would violate their own religious convictions about homosexuality and same-sex relationships. In one of the most celebrated examples, a case made it all the way to the Supreme Court of New Mexico, where it was ruled that a Christian photographer did not have the right to refuse to take photographs of a same-sex couple's commitment ceremony based on her religious beliefs.
Read Full Article »