Discrimination Legislation
Here is the email I sent to one of my State legislators this morning addressing a piece of legislation that he authored which would permit discrimination by individuals and businesses “if it would be contrary to the sincerely held religious beliefs or conscience of the individual regarding marriage, lifestyle or behavior:”
To: State Senator Joseph Silk
Sen. Joseph Silk, silk@oksenate.gov, 405-521-5614
Sir,
We do not know one another. I will presume you to be an honorable person. I do not email today to comment on your character. I email to express my strong objection to your authorship of SB 197.
Given the fiscal issues of our State it is irresponsible for you and your colleagues to be focusing on anything other addressing the budget shortfall, the lack of resources for a quality public education, clean water, affordable quality health care, and regulation of the energy industry causing our earthquakes. And yes, we also need the State to pass the RealID law so our State’s citizens can use our drivers license to board airplanes in these United States.
Spending time attempting to legislate discrimination into our State’s laws demonstrates your misunderstanding of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” By your logic, a business owner or neighborhood association, could determine that religious beliefs or conscious holds that left handed people are evil, no matter what the sciences say, and thus could choose not to serve all left handed persons nor allow left handed persons to own or rent in a neighborhood. It would also allow for a business to discriminate against all bald people. I direct your attention to a teacher who demonstrated the danger of this kind of discrimination, in our personal, communal, and legislative lives, back in April 1968.
Your assertion that this law protects everyone is farcical. It blesses discrimination and removes the State from the responsibility of ensuring an equal society for all our State’s breathing citizens. Though you have not explicitly named an effort to create a ‘christian’ State, it is purposed legislation like yours, and similar legislation it by your colleagues, that suggest you prefer Oklahoma become an outpost for evangelical Christians awaiting the second coming walled off from the rest of our Nation and the world. This kind of legislation demonstrates your misunderstanding of the Constitution of these United States, the balance required to maintain healthy community, and the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. If you were the minority race or religion in this State would you not object to this kind of legislation that you have authored? It is legislation like this that makes me think of militant fundamentalists of other religions that are labeled ‘extremists.’
I admonish you to pull SB197 from consideration. Please spend your time on issues that actually matter for the benefit of all our citizens, equally, instead of legislation that is clearly unconstitutional.
I thank your staff for reading this email.