‘Religious liberty’ returns as hot topic for Georgia legislators

“Religious liberty,” the focus of intense debate in earlier sessions of the General Assembly, returned this past week in a Senate bill that would limit the state government’s ability to pass or enforce laws that conflict with the beliefs of people of faith.

The topic has often revealed a divide within the state’s Republican Party between social conservatives and those mostly interested in promoting business interests. Supporters have said such legislation would add a layer of protection for religious followers. Critics, however, say that religious liberty bills could allow discrimination against groups such as lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people.

That divide was perhaps most pronounced in 2016, when Republican Gov. Nathan Deal — facing threats of boycotts from companies such as Apple, Time Warner and the Walt Disney Co. — vetoed a religious liberty bill that he said he viewed as discriminatory. Republican activists in at least one of the state’s congressional districts responded with a censure of the governor.

This new legislation, Senate Bill 180, has a better chance of passing, though.

It apparently meets criteria that Brian Kemp set when he first ran for governor in 2018, when he pledged that any religious liberty measure he signed into law must be a “mirror image” of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act that President Bill Clinton signed into law in 1993.

SB 180, introduced by state Sen. Ed Setzler, closely resembles the federal law.

Setzler, who previously sponsored Georgia’s anti-abortion law, said “every Georgian should be free to worship and exercise their faith without unfair federal, state or local government intrusion.”

He added: “We can’t ignore this any longer. It’s time to finally deal with this once and for all.”

Critics of the legislation fear it could empower adoption agencies and businesses that refuse to serve gay couples. Georgia doesn’t have a law protecting people from discrimination based on their sexual orientation.

“While we can all agree that freedom of religion is a cornerstone of our beliefs, it is imperative that in an effort to protect religion that we do not create a license to discriminate,” said Jeff Graham of Georgia Equality, a gay rights organization.

Ed Setzler