Cathi Herrod, Asshole of the Day for February 27, 2014
Cathi Herrod is the president of The Center for Arizona Policy, the organization that crafted Arizona Bill #1062 that Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed yesterday. So naturally she was upset at the veto:
Today’s veto of SB 1062 marks a sad day for Arizonans who cherish and understand religious liberty.
SB 1062 passed the legislature for one reason only: to guarantee that all Arizonans would be free to live and work according to their faith.
Opponents were desperate to distort this bill rather than debate the merits. Essentially, they succeeded in getting a veto of a bill that does not even exist.
When the force of government compels one to speak or act contrary to their conscience, the government injures not only the dignity of the afflicted, but the dignity of our society as a whole.
Of course she couldn't be more wrong. Her cry of "religious liberty" is ridiculous. If she is upset that serving gays is a violation of her religion, then why has she never been upset that businesses have to serve people who've committed other sins that her religion condemns? You know, like the 10 commandments. Is it a violation of religious liberty if a baker has to bake a cake for someone who was previously divorced? She seems very silent on this.
And really, is her religion nothing more than hating and oppressing gays? It sure seems so from her whining here. Look, Ms. Herrod, Jesus said NOTHING about gays in the New Testament, but talked non-stop about helping the poor. So why are YOU so focused on gays and not on the poor? Your religion is NAMED for Jesus after all.
But beyond her whining, there's been lots of hyperbole about this law, so before this chapter (hopefully) gets closed, I'm going to spell out all the things wrong with this law and its crybaby defenders:
#1 It's not slavery, Tea Party Nation president Judson Phillips. Slavery isn't when a baker is forced to sell a cake to a gay couple. Slavery is when someone is forced to bake cakes and is not permitted to do anything else by threat of violence or death. Slavery is when someone has no claim on the fruits of their labor. If a baker doesn't want to make cakes for gay weddings, he is free to stop being a baker and do another profession; slaves are not.
#2 It's not "Jim Crow for Christians", Bryan Fischer. Jim Crow denied voting rights, fair juries, and was enforced by lynching and other terrors.
#3 It's not second class citizenship, Todd Starnes. There is no right that Christians are being denied that someone else gets.
And it might be racist for people to suggest that the failure of this law is slavery, Jim Crow or second class citizenship, because you are minimizing the suffering of African Americans under slavery and Jim Crow by comparing not being able to persecute gays to being enslaved or to living without basic rights under terror of lynching.
#4 It's not fascism, Tucker Carlson. But nice try with your half-assed Nazi analogy.
#5 It's not “aiding and abetting sin”, Erick Erickson. Not unless you think bakers are also aiding and abetting sin when they sell to adulterers, divorcees, liars, robbers, those who say "God damn it" or to those who have tattoos, eat shellfish, or covet. And you have been silent on all those items.
#6 Defeating this law is not some sinister gay agenda, Rush Limbaugh. Insisting on the same rights and treatment as everyone else gets is not sinister.
Christianity is more than hatred and persecution of gays (if it should even be part of it at all). Lots more. And it's so wrong for you to pretend that not being able to persecute gays means you can't practice your religion.
So no, Cathi Herrod, it is not a sad day for religious liberty, unless persecuting gays is what your religion is all about:
Today marks a sad day for Arizonans who understand and cherish the kind of religious liberty that can only come from persecuting gays.
— Top Conservative Cat (@TeaPartyCat)
February 27, 2014
And that is why Cathi Herrod is Asshole of the Day.
It is Cathi Herrod's first time being named Asshole of the Day.
Full story: http://www.azpolicy.org/newsroom/cathi-herrods-statement-on-the-veto-of-sb-1062