Last month, after a Louisiana House committee rejected a bill championed by Gov. Bobby Jindal that would have protected discrimination against gays and lesbians under the guise of “religious liberty," Jindal issued an executive order implementing the policy anyway.
All of this followed an op-ed Jindal had written in the New York Times swearing that he would stand up against the “bullying” by gay rights advocates who had been resisting similar laws in other states.
That op-ed earned Jindal, who is also a likely GOP presidential candidate, a glowing portrait in this month’s edition of Decision, the magazine published by Billy Graham’s ministry, in which he declared that by resisting such “right to discriminate” measures, liberals are trying “to essentially outlaw firmly held religious beliefs that they do not agree with.”
He also claimed that the Louisiana bill that was ultimately rejected was “not about discriminating against folks.”
Jindal says the debate over gay marriage really transcends the marriage issue and reveals the agenda of the secular left.
“The left is now in full battle mode against the right to religious freedom that is guaranteed by the First Amendment, and we’re seeing it firsthand in my state,” Jindal said. “You saw the bullying tactics they recently used to intimidate other states when the states tried to pass laws protecting religious freedom. … This is a battle by the left to essentially outlaw firmly held religious beliefs that they do not agree with.”
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Jindal emphasized to Decision that the Louisiana law would not allow for discrimination against people because of sexual orientation, and he disputed the charges by opponents that protecting the religious liberties of Americans is somehow “hateful.”
“This is not about discriminating against folks or about judging people,” Jindal said. “This is simply about protecting the essential religious freedom rights in the First Amendment.”
