TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS – Faith can be a tricky thing in public life.

In just the past few days we’ve seen an attempt by social conservatives to graft what they initially called a “religious liberty” bill – and what opponents called an attempt to make discriminating against gay citizens legal – into Arizona law.

John Krull, publisher, TheStatehouseFile.com

Under intense pressure from business, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, vetoed the measure, which would have allowed people to refuse to do business with others if they thought doing so violated their faith. Primarily, it was designed to allow social conservatives to say they didn’t want to sell their products or services to gay people, but similar arguments also have been advanced in regard to allowing pharmacists to refuse to offer birth control measures if they believed it went against their belief system.

The squabbling wasn’t confined to Arizona. A host of other states, including Indiana, have considered similar measures.

Just a few days ago, Rep. Eric Turner, R-Cicero, tried to amend similar language into another bill before the Indiana House of Representatives. An outcry arose, and the language was stripped out.

But the reasoning that giving social conservatives the legal right to refuse to do business with or work with gays, lesbians or others whose lives offended them was an issue of faith-based freedom was a subtext in the state’s most divisive argument, the one over same-sex marriages. Several speakers for conservative organizations claimed in testimony before legislative committees this year that people of faith were being “persecuted” because they weren’t being allowed to discriminate against gay people.

The problem and the question here are the same: Which people of faith?

One of the most interesting developments over the past 40 years has been the almost universal linkage in the American mind of religion with conservatism.

It wasn’t always that way. Martin Luther King Jr., of course, read the same Bible that religious conservatives do, came to different conclusions and led a movement that focused on challenging repression rather than institutionalizing it.

But, like social conservatives, King sought to change the law so it accorded with his principles.

Nor was he alone.

I did my graduate work at St. Louis University, a school that also was a seminary for Jesuit priests. I was there as a kind of renegade Protestant at the height of the church’s liberation theology period, when the passionate seminarians who shared classes with me expressed an unstinting opposition to conservative and repressive regimes in Latin America – and President Ronald Reagan’s support for such regimes.

The seminarians also condemned what they perceived was Reagan’s “war” on the poor and support for the death penalty as violations of moral principle. At least a few of them didn’t understand why the Bible shouldn’t dictate public policy.

“Who started this separation of church and state nonsense?” one seminarian exclaimed during a particularly impassioned discussion about Reagan and welfare. “It just keeps us from doing the right thing.”

Doubtless, many religious conservatives today agree with him – even if few of them would be brave enough to argue publicly that the Founders’ decision not to create an established American church was a bad idea.

But they wouldn’t agree with that young seminarian about what their faith charged them to do. They might find common ground in regard to birth control and abortion, but likely not on the death penalty, anti-poverty measures and, given the pope’s latest pronouncements, compassion and tolerance for their gay brothers and sisters.

That’s the problem.

People have looked at the Bible – and other religious texts – for millennia and found evidence for different messages, different imperatives and different codes of conduct. In this country alone, Americans looked to the Bible and found justifications both for supporting slavery and for challenging it, for oppressing women and for liberating them, for opposing war and for going to fight.

Who’s right?

No one on this earth knows for sure.

But that’s why we’ll continue arguing about issues of faith as long as human beings worship and pray.

And that’s also why we always will need to be careful about crafting religious principles into earthly law.

John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism, host of “No Limits” WFYI 90.1 Indianapolis and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS – Gov. Mike Pence would get $200 million – half the amount he’s seeking – for new highway projects under legislation the Indiana Senate approved Thursday.

House Bill 1002 now moves back to the House, where lawmakers had voted to free up $400 million in cash for roads, including $25 million for local projects.

Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, said senators decided to be “somewhat cautious” in releasing the money that had originally been set aside for future highway funding.

Under the bill, the legislature will have first shot next year at deciding whether to spend the remaining $200 million on roads or use the cash elsewhere. Kenley has said that’s important because Indiana’s tax receipts are behind projections made just a couple months ago.

Still, he said, Pence and the Indiana Department of Transportation have a number of projects along Interstate 65, the planned Illiana Expressway and other areas that are ready to go.

The bill passed unanimously, although some Democrats said they were disappointed the Senate stripped funding for local roads out of the bill.

“We’re in a crisis in terms of the local roads and particularly in terms of the weather we’ve had,” said Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane, D-Anderson. “I hope we can do something.”

The House can accept the Senate changes to the bill or send the legislation to a study committee where lawmakers can look for a compromise on the issue.

As a state representative, it is important to me that we get out in our district and explore our communities. There is more to being a legislator than being a member of committees, holding meetings and voting on bills. All of the legislators try to make a difference in Indianapolis as we do in our local communities. We want to serve in all capacities to make Indiana a better place. Striving to make a difference in Indiana, some of my fellow legislators and I were able to interact with students and schools throughout the past couple of weeks and look at our state from the perspective of our future leaders.One of the things I was able to do is meet students from both Resurrection School and St. Philip Catholic School here at the Statehouse for the Quality Education Celebration. Students that came to represent their schools from around the state were given a tour throughout the building to see the different branches of government and learn more about public service. We were able to talk with students and answer any questions they had about being a legislator and working in our state capitol. The goal of this day was to highlight education in Indiana and other legislators, and I enjoyed joining students from our districts for a hands-on educational experience.

Last week, I also joined fellow legislators and staff to meet with kindergarten and elementary school students to interact and read with them at the Shepard Community Center.  This community center is dedicated to supporting impoverished children by providing a high-quality learning environment that will get their academic career off to the best possible start. Children living in poverty are more likely to be further behind than their peers when they begin their K-12 education. Showing support through one-on-one interaction is a great way to show these children our support for their education.

Reading is such an essential part of a student’s personal, academic and future growth as it lays the foundation for their life moving forward. While at Shepard Community Center I was able to work with a kindergartener, and we had fun reading “Clifford Goes to School.” I was truly grateful to be able to take part in this day and learn more about the different things schools are doing to encourage their students to take an interest in their education. A great school and education system can lift students, families and communities from socioeconomic challenges, and we all had a great time experiencing first hand all that this school was doing to work towards that goal.

Additionally, within the past few weeks, the Indiana Legislative Youth Advisory Council (ILYAC) hosted a meeting at the Statehouse. This council is a body of students from across Indiana that serve in an advisory capacity to us at the Indiana General Assembly and report on issues that are affecting young adults across our state. I have worked with them over the past few months and was given the opportunity to honor them during session on Tuesday.

One of their key roles is to communicate their recommendations and concerns on legislation to the General Assembly. It is our hope that these students walk away from their day at the Statehouse having a better understanding of the process and feeling more connected to the General Assembly.  I feel passionate about getting our students involved in government early on, so that one day they feel comfortable to take on leadership roles themselves.  As there is never a finish line in the work that we do, we will one day, much sooner than later, pass the baton of self-governance to the generation represented by these young individuals.

So far this session has been a busy one, not only working on legislation that will better our state, but working with children, students, citizens and other legislators. I will continue to keep you updated on legislation as we get closer to the final days of session.