RFRA: Now More than Ever
If we are learning anything from the most baseless, absurd, and vile display of indignation to consume national attention in some time, it is precisely the opposite of the mob's message: Events in Indiana are demonstrating that religious liberty is more important than ever.
Presumably having trawled her pocket of Indiana unsuccessfully for someone willing to go on the record, Alyssa Marino, a reporter with the local ABC affiliate, published late Tuesday night a story about the O'Connor family, proprietors of Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Ind., population: 2,248.
Contrary to false headlines, Crystal O'Connor did not declare homosexual individuals unwelcome in her establishment, or declare her support for Westboro Baptist Church. She said, simply: "If a gay couple came in and wanted us to provide pizzas for their wedding, we would have to say no." Saying that she supported Indiana's newly passed state Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Ms. O'Connor explained, "I do not think it's targeting gays. I don't think it's discrimination. It's supposed to help people that have a religious belief."
Because of her statement of belief, the O'Connors' establishment has become Public Enemy No. 1 in the eyes of a great many Americans. On Google Maps, Memories Pizza has been changed to "Gay Memories Pizza," with hundreds of reviewers posting single-star reviews and berating the O'Connors' "bigotry" and "hate." The same is happening on the crowd-source review site Yelp, where thousands of reviews have poured in from across the country (and even outside it), many with content that's NSFW.
In addition to the reviews, Memories Pizza's Google Maps result includes not a link to its website, but one to a gay dating website. And www.memoriespizza.com (again, NSFW) has been commandeered with pictures of phallic-shaped pizzas and links to the parlor's "app" - which takes you to the gay hookup app, Grindr.
That was enough for the O'Connors to close the doors of their shop until 4 p.m. Wednesday. But chatting with The Blaze radio host Dana Loesch, the O'Connors said that they are considering closing down permanently and leaving town, because of the number of death threats they have received. One of those came from a Concord (Ind.) High School golf coach, who tweeted, "Who's going to Walkerton, IN to burn down #memoriespizza w me?" That coach, Jess Dooley, has been suspended pending an investigation...Also read:
Story About First Business to 'Publicly Vow to Reject Gay Weddings' Was Fabricated Out of Nothing
MSNBC 'Debate' on Indiana Law: 'Cut His Mic Off!'
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