Business Service Discrimination v. Legal Marriage Discrimination & Religion

According to the New York Times (NYT) an “Indiana law that could make it easier for religious conservatives to refuse service to gay couples touched off storms of protest on Friday from the worlds of arts, business and college athletics and opened an emotional new debate in the emerging campaign for president.  . . . Passage of the Republican-led measure, described by advocates as protecting basic religious freedom, drew fierce denunciations. .By Friday afternoon, influential national leaders, including Hillary Rodham Clinton and Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple, had weighed in against the law, calling it a disappointing invitation to discriminate.Continue reading the main story  . . .But Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, a Republican who has not ruled out a 2016 presidential run, defended the law as an overdue protection when “many feel their religious liberty is under attack by government action.” . . A similar furor was building in Arkansas on Friday as the State Senate adopted a version of the bill that has inflamed the state’s corporate giants, like Walmart, and high-tech companies the state is wooing. . . .The laws are modeled on a federal religious protection measure adopted in 1993 and subsequently passed by 20 states.”