Tony Perkins whines over Georgia

This press release tho

The devil has gone to Georgia again, but this time it was in the form of Big Business and cowardly politicians. In a staggering announcement this morning, the two-term governor of the Peach State has capitulated to big business and decided to give the government a blank check to punish Georgia’s men and women of faith. Days after a watered-down religious liberty bill sailed through both houses of the legislature, Governor Deal has decided that even the flimsiest of protections for churches are too much for Georgia’s Christians. Like Hollywood and Big Business, he thinks the state should be able to dictate what people believe — and torment those who don’t conform.

Sound familiar? It should. Any totalitarian regime operates by the same philosophy. And while the persecution takes different forms, the effect is still the same: faith-based oppression. According to Deal, a bill so weak that it wouldn’t even protect the nuns at Little Sisters of the Poor “doesn’t reflect the character of our state or the character of its people.” But apparently, open season on religious liberty does?

Now, because of his unwillingness to defend even churches, the man who said he wouldn’t allow discrimination just authorized the biggest expansion of it — against Christians. That kind of gutless capitulation may make him more popular with out-of-state activists, but it won’t fly with the state’s conservatives, who hold the keys to the next three years of Deal’s agenda.

If you’re wondering where this kind of cowardice leads, look no further than Indiana, where Governor Mike Pence’s (R) career is hanging by a political thread. Compare that to the strength of places like Houston and Mississippi, where conservatives stuck up for constitutional freedoms, instead of running from them. And guess what? The NCAA and NFL threats turned out to be empty ones. Unlike Pence, Deal won’t have to face voters again — but he will have to face himself years from now when he comes to the realization that he did nothing to protect innocent Georgians from the heavy hand of government.

Although the legislative session ended Friday, Republicans are already floating the possibility of a special session to override Deal’s veto. Contact your leaders in Georgia and urge them to do exactly that. If the governor won’t protect churches, the legislature must.