“Seeing that it is better that offenders should die rather than that all of us should be killed by God’s just wrath against us for the folly of tolerating-wickedness in our midst… [Californians] command, in the fear of God, that any person who willingly touches another person of the same gender for purposes of sexual gratification be put to death by bullets to the head or by any other convenient method.”

This was printed in California’s proposed “Sodomy Suppression Act” in March of this year. The bill continues to state that anyone with homosexual content on their person can face punishments ranging from $10,000 fines to being exiled from the state for life. Anyone who witnesses any act which could even be thought of as homosexual would be required to report it to the police or face similar fines.

The police would be given a year from when the incident was reported to kill the supposed “criminal”– no trial necessary. After a year, any citizen would be “empowered and deputized to execute all the provisions hereunder extra-judicially, immune from any charge and indemnified by the state against any and all liability.”

Basically,  all members of the LGBT+ community, or anyone that falls into stereotypes, would be fair game for anyone with a gun.

The backing behind this law is religious, the Bible being the main source cited. It forgets the Constitution’s “separation of church and state” to promote a hateful agenda.

Arizona’s state government proposed a law last year which would have given people the right to deny any service that would conflict with their religion. The bill was phrased to include everyone, but was specifically targeted towards “business owners.” And while this bill sounds like a wonderful idea– ensuring that everyone makes the most of the First Amendment– there is a downside.

The LGBT+ community instantly brought the bill to the public’s attention with the infamous tag of discrimination. Word spread, and as outrage grew.

The bill would give a person the ability to discriminate against anyone: LGBT+ or straight; black or white; American or foreigner; elderly or young. Essentially Arizona would have legalized discrimination against anyone who did not fit a business owner’s moral standards.

After vetoing the bill, Governor Jan Brewer simply stated that the bill was “broadly worded and could result in unintended and negative consequences.”

In Washington, D.C., yet another discriminatory law was proposed that would allow for the firing of women who are pregnant while unmarried or pregnant via in vitro fertilization Apparently these methods may infringe on the religious beliefs of their employers, despite the fact that employers have no involvement in the process of their employees’ children being born.

These laws are not allowing rights to be kept, not allowing

Religion is not a reason to discriminate, not a way to excuse hatred or violence towards others. Most religious texts preach of peace and love and forgive and accept.

Are we to show our religions through the oppression of people who believe differently?