Arkansas: State Government Surrenders To Leftist Degeneracy, Vows To Protect Homosexual Rights

This series of Rod Dreher articles over at The American Conservative says it all … it feels strange linking to Rod here, but he is right on these Social Justice Warriors:

• The Writing’s on the Wall For Christians
• Into the Christian Closet
• The Eclipse of Religious Liberty
• Morality or Mammon?
• The Rout of Conservative Christians

You know it is over and done for conservative Christians in American “mainstream” politics when the Republican governor and legislature of Arkansas caved so quickly over the new issue of “religious liberty.” That’s a telltale sign that there will never be a modus vivendi between Christians and the homosexual lobby:

“Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed a narrower religious liberty bill into law Thursday after a more expansive measure approved by state legislators earlier in the week spurred an outcry from activists and corporations who feared it would permit discrimination against gays and lesbians.

The latest Arkansas bill largely mirrors a federal “religious freedom” law from the 1990s. The original measure passed by Arkansas legislators Tuesday, like a law in Indiana that also drew national criticism, went beyond other state and federal religious-freedom laws.

The Republican governor quickly signed the new measure into law, just minutes after it passed the state House by an overwhelming margin Thursday afternoon. Mr. Hutchinson had called for changes to the original measure Wednesday amid pressure from companies, including the state’s largest private employer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and from gay-rights groups.”

In this case, Wal-Mart was the puppeteer behind the scenes:

“IM ZARROLI, BYLINE: Governor Hutchinson has promised to sign the bill, but he backed out at the last minute. In a press conference yesterday, he said one of the things that changed his mind was opposition from Arkansas businesses.

GOVERNOR ASA HUTCHINSON: I have had some communication personally with some of the business leaders across the state. Others have communicated in different fashions. And they raise an important issue.

ZARROLI: The bill would have barred state and local governments from infringing on someone’s religious beliefs unless the government had a strong compelling interest. Critics say the bill would allow businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians. Supporters deny that. But as the controversy mushroomed, the state’s business community began opposing the bill. Jay Chesshir is president and CEO of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce. …

ZARROLI: Among the companies opposing bill was Arkansas-based Walmart, the country’s biggest private-sector employer. State representative Camille Bennett says what scared businesses wasn’t just bad PR. The bill is based on a federal law adopted by many states but is much broader. And she says it would open up private companies to lawsuits. For instance, she says, what if someone believed a textbook used in local schools violated his or her religious beliefs?

ZARROLI: Bennett says companies like Walmart have lots of smart attorneys. And once they realized the potential impact of the bill, they began to call for its defeat. Jim Zarroli, NPR News.”