America- the land of the free and the home of the brave, or so we thought. We live in a country where discrimination is supposed to be an unfortunate setback of our past, not a nuisance in our present. What is separation of church and state worth if discrimination, justified by religious freedom, is still a common issue?

On March 26, Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed into legislation the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a bill with the misleading purpose of protecting the religious affiliations of Indiana citizens.  This may seem like a harmless bill meant to reinforce the Constitution we all hold so dear. Unfortunately, this act is remarkably ambiguous, with only four pages of vague guidelines loosely pertaining to religion.

One of the most concerning sections of the bill is Section 3, which states, “Sec. 3. (a) As used in this chapter, “exercise of religion” means the practice or observance of religion. (b) The term includes a person’s ability to: (1) act; or (2) refuse to act; in a manner that is substantially motivated by the person’s sincerely held religious belief, regardless of whether the religious belief is compulsory or central to a larger system of religious belief.”

On the surface, the reference to the ability to practice a religion despite any connection to a widely accepted system of belief appears as a measure that would promote anything but discrimination. However, this stipulation can go both ways. Section 4 states that “person” can refer to any individual, company or organization. Therefore, it is a major possibility that any business could use the RFRA as a means to deny service to individuals on basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, or intellect. It is for this reason that the passage of this bill is so unjust. At the very least, it is an irresponsibly ambiguous act; at the worst, it is a tool for hateful people to rise above those they do not respect or understand.

What makes this bill even more interesting is the outrage that has been shown by powerful members who actually live in the state. According to the Huffington Post, the Republican mayor of Indianapolis claimed the bill sent the “wrong signal” for the state and city. In addition, many religious groups- ironically the groups Pence supposedly wanted to cater to- have refused to hold events in the state. Leaders of the Christian Church, scheduled to hold a 6,000 person event in Indianapolis in 2017 sent a letter to Pence saying, “We are particularly distressed at the thought that, should RFRA be signed into law, some of our members and friends might not be welcome in Indiana businesses — might experience legally sanctioned bias and rejection once so common on the basis of race.”

Despite shock from members of the state itself and those of the churches the bill was meant to protect, Pence believes that the bill does not promote discrimination at all, saying he would have vetoed it if he had thought it would do such damage. When the bill was signed into action, it was done so in private, without public or press allowed in to see its passage. This is wrong on so many levels. The public is what makes up the state, so to keep them from witnessing the enactment of a bill supposedly meant to help them suggests that Pence knew it would have negative impact. This is exhibited further by his blockage of press coverage. The only reason they would not have been allowed to document the signing would be if he knew there would be an adverse reaction. So, not only is the bill itself unjust, but the Governor’s actions were unjust as well. Legislation is put in place for the benefit of the people, and when a leader is told by members of the very state he serves that such legislation is unfair and ambiguous and neglects to fix his actions, the freedom of the entire country  is jeopardized.

Most people have taken the opportunity to call this bill out because of its potential to target homosexuals, but the danger goes far beyond that. If Indiana residents are allowed to treat their own neighbors however they want on the basis of religion, the sociological damage alone to future generations will be astounding.

Ultimately, the RFRA, despite any early good intentions, has caused a fifty year setback for our nation. It doesn’t matter how many slaves were freed, how many women can vote, or who can marry who; as long as the states have the capability to pass acts with the power to incapacitate normal people like you and me, America will be stuck in its unfortunate days of discriminate setback. Luckily, Pence has recently agreed to a revision of the bill. Whether the revision will clarify any good intentions remains to be seen, however.