Editor, Times-Union: The enactment of the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act last past Thursday was, in my view, a mistake and it should be repealed. Had I been elected as our state representative for House District 22, I would have voted against it. It is obvious to everyone that this bill is a response to the defeat of Indiana’s proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and civil unions. It is further obvious to everyone that the legislation is a preemptive strategy to defend against the anticipated decision of the United States Supreme Court in favor of same-sex marriage and making it the law in every state pursuant to the 14th Amendment. Anyone who says otherwise is simply not being truthful. Setting aside the colossal political miscalculations exhibited by our legislature and our governor (except for five Republicans who voted against the bill) and the stunning level of financial damage this bill will cause, I think it was simply unwise to enact it. Leaders need to display two prominent characteristics to succeed: wisdom and courage. The absence of one or both spells trouble. The enactment of this law demonstrated a lack of wisdom because the harm occasioned far outweighs any good accomplished. Our leaders also demonstrated a lack of courage. I believe there are a good number of legislators who went along simply because they did not want to face the wrath of the far right in the upcoming primary elections in spring 2016. A courageous position would have been to vote what they believed best and accept the consequences. I believe Rebecca Kubacki, our former representative, displayed this courage, and she should be commended. Enacting this legislation will likely not prevent the way our culture appears to headed: universal acceptance of same-sex marriage and a ban on any discrimination, public or private, regarding sexual orientation. For those who earnestly believe they cannot engage with LGBT people, to one degree or another, there have always been remedies in our courts where religious beliefs can be weighed against the rights of the group. The Amish are an example. Long before any federal or state RFRAs, in the famous 1970 case of Wisconsin v. Yoder, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that Amish children did not have to attend formal education beyond eighth grade, despite state mandatory education requirements, because of their religious beliefs. As a young law student in the 70s I had a chance to hear William Ball speak who the lawyer who represented the Amish. These are difficult times and tensions are running high. Perhaps the best thing we can do now is scrap this legislation and let the dust settle. If it was a good law it does not need fixed and if it was a bad law it should not have been enacted. Attempting to fix a bad law might only make it worse. Accepting there are no easy answers here, because both sides feel very deeply in their points of view, at the very least we should show the respect to one another that we all deserve, regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, disability or sexual orientation. David C. Kolbe Warsaw, via email Editor’s Note: This letter was submitted prior to action by the Indiana legislature adding language prohibiting discrimination.
