Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press on April 5, where he discussed Indiana’s religious freedom law with host Chuck Todd. Jindal said he was disappointed with Indiana’s newly rewritten law and worried it would not adequately protect religious liberty:
I was very worried about the law in Indiana. I’m disappointed. Let’s remember what this debate was originally all about. This is about business owners that don’t want to have to choose between their Christian faith, their sincerely held religious beliefs, and being able to operate their businesses.
Now, what they don’t want is the government to force them to participate in wedding ceremonies that contradict their beliefs. They simply want the right to say, “We don’t want to be forced to participate in those ceremonies.” So I was disappointed that you could see Christians and their businesses face discrimination in Indiana. I hope the legislators will fix that and rectify that.
There used to be a bipartisan consensus in this country around religious liberty saying that as Americans, we don’t always have to agree with each other, but we should respect each other’s rights and freedoms. And that’s what this debate is really about: Are we going to use government to force people to contradict their own sincerely held beliefs?
