Bobby Jindal: Christians being discriminated against

Louisiana Governor and possible 2016 GOP presidential candidate Bobby Jindal noted on NBC's Meet the Press that Christians are being discriminated against.

Chuck Todd: Well let me ask you this. Do you agree with some other folks and conservatives that you think Governor Pence and Governor Hutchinson in Arkansas and Indiana have essentially caved too much pressure?

Jindal: Well, Chuck, I was very worried about the law in Indiana. I’m disappointed. Let’s remember what this debate was originally all about.

This is about business owners that don’t want to have to choose between their Christian faith, their sincerely held religious beliefs, and being able to operate their businesses. Now, what they don’t want is the government to force them to participate in wedding ceremonies that contradict their beliefs.

They simply want the right to say, “We don’t want to be forced to participate in those ceremonies.” I was disappointed that you could see Christians and their businesses face discrimination in Indiana. I hope the legislators will fix that and rectify that.

Chuck, there used to be a bipartisan consensus in this country around religious liberty saying that as Americans, we don’t all have to agree with each other but we should respect each other’s rights and freedoms. And that’s what this debate is really about. Are we going to use government to force people to contradict their own sincerely held beliefs?

Todd: The debate, I guess, is about the line on freedom and a personal conviction versus how you conduct yourself in a business. So you think it’s okay, based on religious conviction, for a business to deny services to a same sex couple?

Jindal: We’re not talking about restaurants denying service to people who want to come and have dinner. We’re not talking about day-to-day, routine commercial transactions.

We’re talking about a very specific example here of business owners, of florists, of musicians, of caterers who are being forced to either pay thousands of dollars or close their businesses if they don’t want to participate in a wedding ceremony that contradicts their religious beliefs.

So in that instance, I think that part of the First Amendment means that we allow individuals to obey their consciences and obey their religious beliefs. I think that’s a part of religious liberty in America.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjnEOzux0rE]