Indianathema – Pence, Daniels & Rauner
This post from March
of 2015 is a reminder of the bizarre political philosophies that drive
dangerous characters like soon-to-be-named VP candidate Governor Pence of
Indiana and their fellows in other states – like Illinois.
Governor Rauner’s
“role model.”, according to Crain’s editorial board, is Mitch Daniels. He
told them so in March of 2014. In addition, the private equity manager/governor
of Illinois has hired the chief legal counsel from Indiana (Jason Barclay) in
order to have the same man who whispered in Mitch Daniels’ ear murmuring in
his.
Wisely, Rauner is circumspect in emulating his idol Daniels,
now the president of Purdue University, where the past governor has been battled
for his attempts to remove Howard Zinn’s works from the curriculum…and now, for
too swiftly moving the university’s professorial staff into a standardized
corporate style testing of students’ growth per year – one linked to
performance measurements for them and teachers.
In the last week, Indiana passed into law a religious
objections bill, one that has come with some rather unexpected
opposition from corporations and businesses that realize isolating and then
condemning a particular segment of a population is not wise fiscally (and,
perhaps, morally?). That last concept
eluded Governor Pence as he stumbled through explanations on the talk show
circuits Sunday.
You might also remember that candidate Rauner was careful to
avoid any response to the equal marriage law that passed in Illinois, although
he later quietly admitted that he would have vetoed it.
His idol Daniels responds to the passage of last week’s Indiana’s
religious objections bill just as ambiguously.
“Well,
I’m not going to take any position on it, consistent with Purdue’s policy of
not doing so in issues like this,” Daniels said. “You’re within your rights to
ask the question, but not for me to answer.”
I haven’t seen any questions to our new Illinois governor on
the subject of Indiana’s religious objections bill. The answers would be enlightening, but
probably not unexpected.
The Indiana bill, signed into law by Republican Governor
Mike Pence, will allow companies and services to refuse or decline doing
business with individuals who “ask for materials or assistance” which the
business might find objectionable on religious grounds.
On the other hand, it seems to me most fundamental religions
contain so many taboos - from food,
alcohol, associations, menstruation - that I can’t imagine myself able to shop
or purchase services easily in my own little town in Illinois. But let’s be honest. This bill is not written for those exotic and
esoteric religions in, of all places, Midwestern Indiana. It’s to keep those LGBT people outside.
“Indiana Right to Life President and CEO Mike Fichter
praised the new law, saying it would give abortion opponents legal recourse if
they are pressured to support the procedure.
The organization circulated an online petition to thank Pence for
signing the bill.”
It isn’t often that you find a government legislative body
willing to provide the legal elements for one group of its citizenry to hate
another, but welcome to the state that is “kickin’ our tail” – Indiana. The state Rauner emulates.
While supporters of the religious objections bill are quick
to cast the bill as an attempt to prevent any government from compelling an
individual or business owner from having to do something religiously
unacceptable, the inherent and likely application of the law will likely be
detrimental to an already marginalized minority of gay or same-sex couples. In
essence, then, the state of Indiana does not boldly claim to discriminate – more
sinister – Indiana creates a tacit permission for its citizens to
discriminate based upon self-described “religious” principles. If anything, this entire ethos is antithetical
to the teachings of most if not all religions, especially Christianity.
While Rauner has not yet built the kind of support and
majority in the GA that would assure this specious singling out a particular
group for punishment under the guise of “religious freedom,” he has already
clearly outlined his unrelenting abhorrence of all things collective
bargaining.
In Rauner’s on-line diatribe The Illinois Turnaround Agenda, he outlines in a bullet-point
simplicity just what he plans to do:
It’s not pretty – and its not discreet.
Promise: “With voter empowerment, Illinois can become
a great state, a competitive, compassionate state again.”
We’ve seen the extent of our new Governor’s compassion,
especially for the vulnerable and the marginalized in our state. If you’d like an unsettling and open list of
just how he would marginalize you (compassionately?) for being part of a union
or collective bargaining unit, read his agenda here:
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