Arizona Discrimination Bill a "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" says Arizona Bishop

Arizona Bishop Kirk Smith issued a strong rebuke to Arizona legislators in his weekly "epistle" taking on just-passed bill literally legislating discrimination against LGBT people in Arizona.

Co-authored with Cathedral Dean Troy Mendez, Smith wrote:

Who among us doesn't want to support religious freedom? This argument seems to be the tactic of some arch-conservative lawmakers, who have convinced our Arizona legislators that it is fine to deny people basic human rights under the guise of religious freedom. Lawmakers in other states and members of both political parties have been astute enough to see what bills like this really are – a wolf in sheep's clothing that masks discrimination under a [veneer] of piety. Arizona, however, with its propensity for making itself into the political laughing-stock of the nation, has been duped once again. One can only pray that our Governor will, as the Arizona Republic said this morning, “get out her veto pen."

Read the rest here ... and give thanks for bishops willing to step up, speak the truth in love and challenge the forces that would undo the progress this nation has made toward making "liberty and justice for all" not just a pledge we make but a reality we live.