Indiana Leaders Trade Religious Freedom for the Silver of Big Business

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Apr 02, 2015, 08:38 ET

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement after the Indiana legislature passed and Governor Mike Pence signed into law a measure that guts the state's recently passed Religious Freedom Restoration Act:

"Indiana's elected leaders traded religious freedom for the silver of Big Business. In doing so, they endorse government discrimination against people who simply follow their beliefs about marriage.

"Today, Indiana's government ushered in a dark moment that empowers the government to impose punishing fines on people simply for following their beliefs about marriage, which eclipses freedom.

"The governor claims that the debate over religious freedom is now 'behind us.' He is wrong. Instead, it is now freedom and the people vs. government coercion. Financial ruin is now the punishment for Hoosiers who freely live according to their beliefs. Shockingly, the new law even contemplates the possibility of criminal prosecution for those who decline a same-sex ceremony.

"Unfortunately, Indiana leaders yielded to the cultural bullies and the enticements of Big Business and the result is they have sacrificed the essential rights of their citizens," concluded Perkins.

SOURCE Family Research Council