Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal Warns Corporate America Against Bullying The “Faithful”: Reiterates Stand Against Gay Marriage

Louisiana Governor and the U.S Republican leader Bobby Jindal has criticised the recent policies of corporate America and said they are bending to the will of the anti-Christian left-wing and bullying people of faith. Jindal was speaking at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Spring Kick-off.

In an obvious reference to Indiana State’s Religious Liberty Restoration Act, Jindal accused the corporate America of teaming up with the radical left “to come after religious liberty rights.” Jindal urged corporate America to be careful, as radical left does not want Americans to neither experience religious liberty nor economic liberty. He reminded that it is the very same radical left that wants to “tax and regulate companies out of existence because profit is a dirty word.”

It may be recalled that hundreds of large businesses from Main Street to Wall Street had urged the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down laws banning same-sex marriage. In a friend-of-the-court brief filed by the businesses, hundreds of them argued that states that still prohibit gay unions “hamper employer efforts to recruit and retain the most talented workforce possible in those states.” Among the companies, which backed gay marriage include General Electric, Apple, American Express, AT&T, Amazon, etc.

Religious Liberty Bill

Jindal, in his speech, observed that activists and corporate interests have bullied Indiana leaders, “But I’ve got news for them,” he said. “We’ve got legislation in Louisiana. We’ve already got a Religious Freedom Act. We’ve got legislation this session to protect people of faith and of conscience who hold the traditional view of marriage and they might as well save their breath because corporate America is not going to bully the governor of Louisiana when it comes to religious liberty.”

The Governor wanted the corporations to understand that there is no freedom of speech or freedom of association sans religious liberty. He explained that it is possible to have both religious liberty and immunity from discrimination to exist by a fair understanding what religious liberty means. According to him, religious liberty means, being able to live lives, 24-hours a day, 7 days a week as per one’s faith, conscience and beliefs.

Dump Jindal

Meanwhile, Huffington Post in a report lambasted Jindal for his comments against same sex marriage and asked the Republicans to dump the Governor for his outbursts. It said, Jindal is alienating corporate America and LGBT communities. The report also referred to his proposed faith-based bill--the Marriage and Conscience Act assuring liberty for everyone and seeking to legal protect companies from doing business with them, as same-sex ceremonies violate "a sincerely held religious belief." The report said Jindal is trying to project the law as a tool against "discrimination against Christian individuals and businesses."

In that process, it noted, Jindal is only breaching the memo from his fellow conservatives that this is the year for pandering to gay voters and not shaming them. The report called up the Republican Party leadership to distance from the governor for his attempts at diminishing and alienating two powerful voting blocs--corporate America and LGBT constituents. By positioning as a "state's rights" leader, the report said, Jindal is only spoiling his own chances for a presidential candidacy.

(For feedback/comments, contact the writer at k.kumar@ibtimes.com.au)