On Tuesday March 31st 2015, the Arkansas House of Representatives passed a controversial religious freedom bill similar to the bill passed Indiana. Supporters of these bills say they are designed to keep state government from forcing business owners to contradict their religious beliefs by offering everyone the same goods and services. Of course, people with any kind of common sense can see that this law is aimed at the LGBT community. It seeks to allow businesses to discriminate based on sexual orientation. Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson was a strong supporter of the bill, that is, until he wasn’t.
On Wednesday April first, yes on “April Fool’s Day,” the governor changed his tune.
Hutchinson had this to say about the religious freedom bill,
??This is a bill that in ordinary times would not be controversial, but these are not ordinary times.?
?My responsibility is to speak out on my own convictions,? Hutchinson said, ?and to do what I can, as governor, to make sure this bill reflects the values of the people of Arkansas, protects those of religious conscience. But also, minimizes the chance of discrimination in the workplace.?
I’m curious as to find out what “ordinary times” Hutchinson is ?referring to. Hutchinson claims that his change of heart happened after he found out that?his son, Seth Hutchinson, a 31-year-old union organizer in Austin, Texas, signed a moveon.org petition calling for the law to be defeated. Here’s what his Seth said in a facebook post:
“proud to have made a small contribution to the overall effort to stop discrimination against the LGBT community in Arkansas.”
Governor Hutchinson had this to say about his son’s opposition,
“The issue has become divisive because our nation remains split on how to balance the diversity of our culture with the traditions and firmly held religious convictions. It has divided families, and there is clearly a generational gap on this issue.”
Clearly Governor Hutchinson is a man of solid principles who strongly values the opinions of his family. I’m sure his decision to reverse course had little, if anything, to do with this statement?from Doug McMillon, chief executive of Walmart based in Bentonville, Arkansas:
So, essentially, everyone was saying the same thing that Walmart said, but it wasn’t until the?BIG Walmart boss weighed in that Asa Hutchinson suddenly had his “moment of conscious”; quite a coincidence is it not?
This reminds me of an old FedEx commercial where the employee recommends FedEx at a meeting. Everyone in the room?remains silent until the boss speaks, repeating the exact same line as the junior executive. View the video here if you’d like to refresh your memory (it really is quite humorous):
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