The Indiana state legislature has passed a bill that, in their words, protects the religious freedoms of citizens. The bill grants business owners the right to refuse service to someone if it conflicts with their religious beliefs. Essentially this law grants businesses the right to discriminate against the LGBT community.

This would be sickening enough if Indiana was the only state that had introduced such a law, but 23 other states have introduced similar legislation to protect the right to discriminate.

All of the laws have cited some desire to protect peoples religious freedoms, however what the laws are actually doing is creating an environment where people’s non-religious beliefs and lifestyles are not protected from discrimination. It insists that a group of the population should be protected from a challenge of their faith that may make them uncomfortable, rather than ensuring equality for all citizens.

There is currently a bill in the North Dakota state legislature that would protect LGBT members from discrimination in housing, government, public services and employment. The bill has already passed in the senate and has moved to the house. What is extremely sad is the fact that not only is an anti-discrimination bill facing scrutiny, but similar bills have already failed in 2009 and in 2013. It is ludicrous that anyone would fight a bill that doesn’t legalize anything, but simply ensures that a segment of the population is protected from discrimination.

Discrimination is not, and never has been an issue of what you believe in. It is an issue of treating everyone with the respect and dignity that they deserve, and ensuring them this right does not come into conflict with anyone’s beliefs.

There is a story in the book of Matthew of Jesus’s interaction with a Canaanite woman. It tells of Jesus meeting a Canaanite woman whose daughter is possessed by demons. The woman begs for Jesus’s help, but he refuses. She begs more, and still he refuses, this time insisting that he was sent down only to help the Jews and then calls her a dog, a common racial slur that many Jews would use to refer to Canaanites. And still the woman continues to beg. Finally, Jesus heals her daughter.

The reason that I bring this passage up is that it shows that even when you are opposed to someone’s lifestyle, beliefs, or anything about them, you should never discriminate against them, and should accommodate their beliefs to the best of their abilities. Insisting that you have the right to discriminate against someone, you are insisting that they do not deserve the same dignity as you do.

Still, some will insist that the government is not supporting discrimination, but is rather remaining neutral, and ensuring that it doesn’t infringe on anyone’s rights. But as Desmond Tutu said “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”

Alex Bertsch is the opinion editor for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].