To the editor:
In his criticism of my stance on RFRA, C.O. Montgomery allowed that I have the right to my opinion but should stick to the facts and not slant them.
Mr. Montgomery in his rebuke clearly omitted a number of facts and certainly slanted a few.
Bill Clinton did not endorse Indiana’s RFRA. His federal law and that of the 19 previous states that passed RFRA legislation all specifically barred use of the law to discriminate against gays. Indiana legislators rejected amendments which would have brought their bill in line with the others.
Not until after the national backlash that is.
Mr. Montgomery claimed the protestors were paid but supplied no evidence to that fact. He claimed liberals and “a handful of self-serving CEOs overturned the law.” The heads of Eli Lilly, the NCAA, Wal-Mart, Cummins and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, to name a few, are neither self-serving CEOs nor particularly liberal.
He ignores the fact that Gov. Mike Pence was forewarned by a multitude of conservatives that opposed our RFRA legislation. Even the very conservative National Review’s Andrew McCarty said RFRA was a dangerous law.
McCarty noted from his experience as a federal terrorism prosecutor that jihadists insisted their religious beliefs justified their “scripturally inspired incitements and attacks.”
McCarty wisely asks where society should draw the line of the slippery slope of religious freedom.
On a couple of points I agree with Mr. Montgomery.
Liberals who threatened the owners of Memories Pizza are hypocrites. I also agree that Pat Bauer’s Democratic Party walkout was an embarrassment, and I hope Gov.Pence suffers the same fate as Bauer.
Finally, if the GOP is so welcoming of a fair fight, why did so many local Republican candidates, over the years, ask me not to run anyone against them? For that matter, why did the GOP supermajority eliminate the Democratic held at-large seats in Indianapolis if they truly welcome a fair fight?
Michael Adkins
Greenfield
