Anti-RFRA CEOs can’t be believed

As consideration of North Carolina’s religious freedom bill ramps up, North Carolinians should call on the many CEOs who have come out against such laws around the country to put their money where their mouths are.

According to these CEOs and the activists from whom they are taking their cues, state Religious Freedom Restoration Acts grant people of faith a “license to discriminate” against people who identify as LGBT.

Of course, ideologically diverse commentators have shown over and over that no state’s RFRA, including North Carolina’s bill, fosters discrimination. But if these CEOs truly believe the disinformation, there is only one thing they can logically do: immediately stop doing business with any state that has a RFRA law.

This will include the 21 states and Washington, D.C., that have RFRA laws like the one North Carolina is considering, 13 additional states whose constitutions provide the same protection for religious freedom as RFRAs and the federal government, which in 1993 enacted its own RFRA, upon which nearly all state RFRAs are based.

So, all told, these companies should stop doing business in 34 states and with the federal government. What CEOs would continue to do business with people they view to be facilitators of hate? And what better way for them to effect change than to hurt the economic interests of jurisdictions that have adopted, in their view, such deeply misguided laws?

Sure, this would have a detrimental effect on some of these companies. For example, Roche Diagnostics – whose CEO signed onto a letter decrying Indiana’s original RFRA – would have to forgo the more than $380 million in taxpayer money it has raked in through federal contracts over the last eight years. But if asked, perhaps he would assert that such a sacrifice is worth it to put a stop to laws he views as divisive.

And, as part of ceasing to do business within the states with RFRA protections, Salesforce also must immediately close seven of its offices in jurisdictions with RFRAs. Yes, these lost business opportunities and office closings will hurt Salesforce employees, but perhaps its CEO would claim that social causes of such eminent importance are worth these kinds of sacrifices.

And will Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has steadfastly opposed religious freedom laws on the false grounds that they inevitably sanction “discrimination” against the LGBT community, stop doing business with countries in the Middle East with laws that allow people who identify as homosexual to be put to death?

Of course, none of this will happen. These CEOs seem to prefer the endorsement of radical activist groups. They do not appear willing to put everything, or much of anything, on the line in terms of truth and principle.

Juxtapose these CEOs’ paper-tiger convictions with those of several courageous people of faith who are standing up against overwhelming government pressure to violate their religious convictions concerning marriage. Barronelle Stutzman, a lovable grandmother and floral artist, stands to lose everything – including her family business, her home and her life savings – because she could not in good conscience create custom floral arrangements to celebrate her longstanding customer and friend’s same-sex ceremony. The state of Washington and the ACLU both sued Stutzman, claiming her decision to follow her conscience violates the state public accommodations law. Others have and continue to face similar, dire consequences for following their faith, both inside and outside of the marriage context.

This is real religious discrimination, not the fanciful claims of LGBT discrimination that RFRA opponents irresponsibly spread.

Yet these well-heeled CEOs – who are risking nothing – are advocating that these people of faith – who stand to lose everything – should be deprived of laws that would give them a fighting chance against such heavy-handed government coercion. That’s what state RFRAs, including the one proposed in North Carolina, do. Contrary to the myths many CEOs have spread, the laws do not guarantee victory for any person who claims the need to have his or her religious freedom protected. They simply give the court a tool by which to weigh whether the government has overstepped its bounds.

If these corporate heads are not willing to put their money where their mouths are, North Carolinians ought to shut their ears to their hypocritical claims and welcome the true benefits that a religious freedom law will bring to all people in the state.

This story was originally published April 22, 2015 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Anti-RFRA CEOs can’t be believed."