Texas’ Attorney General Is Confused About How Religious Liberty Works (Who's surprised?):

[Panich52]

ThinkProgress

. ...

At least, that’s according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Despite the Supreme Court’s extension of equal protections under the 14th Amendment to LGBT people seeking state-sanctioned marriage, Paxton maintains that county clerks and their employees “retain religious freedoms” that may allow them to use “religious objections” as a reason not to follow the law. In an opinion issued Sunday to Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Paxton argued that state employees can opt out of issuing marriage licenses if they religiously object.

To make his case, Paxton appeals to the same Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, that has made headlines in recent months as states have passed legislation designed to discriminate against LGBT Americans. On the federal level, RFRA requires that pursuing a “compelling government interest” must not “substantially burden” an individual’s religious exercise if that government interest can be pursued by “less restrictive means.”

Paxton notes, but does not seem to deeply consider, that Texas’ own version of the federal RFRA actually includes civil rights protections, stipulating that a person with religious objections to a particular law or employment obligation cannot invoke RFRA to override civil rights laws and statutes. Moreover, Texas Family Code Sec.2.205 already asserts that those authorized to perform marriage in the state are “prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, religion, or national origin against an applicant who is otherwise competent to be married.”

But Paxton remains undeterred — from using religion to discriminate against same-sex couples, anyway. Meanwhile, he is remarkably silent on some provisions that others might fight objectionable on conscience or religious grounds.

More
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2015/06/30/3675451/texas-ag-religious-liberty/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tptop3

[napkinz]

1. let's explain it to him ...