It is really a freakin shame when the nation has deteriorated to the point where it is a) necessary to pass a law guaranteeing free exercise of religion and b) where it is controversial to do so.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence on Thursday signed into law a religious objections bill that some convention organizers and business leaders have opposed amid concern it could allow discrimination against gay people.

Indiana is the first state to enact such a change this year among about a dozen where such proposals have been introduced. The measure would prohibit state and local laws that “substantially burden” the ability of people — including businesses and associations — to follow their religious beliefs.

Pence, a Republican, backed the bill as it moved through the Legislature and spoke at a Statehouse rally last month that drew hundreds of supporters of the proposal. The governor signed the bill in a private ceremony.

Pence said in a statement Thursday that the bill ensures “religious liberty is fully protected under Indiana law.”

“The Constitution of the United States and the Indiana Constitution both provide strong recognition of the freedom of religion, but today, many people of faith feel their religious liberty is under attack by government action,” he said.

The genesis of the recent outbreak of bills guaranteeing religious freedom are a direct response to the anti-Christian hatred and bigotry on the part of the homosexual-privileges community and their sympathizers. Not content to live and let live, not content to take their victory in desecrating marriage and simply go on their way, these bigoted zealots have sought out Christian run enterprises in order to bully them into submission or sue them into bankruptcy. Where possible, these people use the false God of fairness to convince localities to enact “non-discrimination” statutes raising a deviant life-style choice, homosexuality, to the same level of protection as immutable characteristics such as race and gender.

Opponents of these laws say they will lead to discrimination, but they actually do just the opposite. They prevent religious people from having to violate their beliefs in order to comply with laws designed to make sexual perversion not only protected but honored activity.

Pence tried to downplay the law’s impact Thursday, but his allies who pushed it in the legislature — led by Eric Miller, the head of Advance America and a powerful lobbyist on socially conservative issues in Indiana, who stood behind Pence at Thursday’s bill signing ceremony — touted the protections it affords businesses against gays, lesbians and transgender Hoosiers.

On his website, Miller highlighted examples of the law’s effect: Christian bakers, florists and photographers won’t have to participate in “homosexual marriage,” he wrote, while Christian businesses won’t be punished for “refusing to allow a man to use the women’s restroom.”

While Mr. Miller may incorrect about the pervs using the wrong restroom issue — I don’t see any religious connection but I can see a lot of good personal liability reasons to get rid of your public restrooms — he is correct about being forced to participate in the homosexual mockery of marriage. This is a much bigger issue than florists or photographers, Catholic parishes who now rent their parish halls for wedding receptions to non-Catholics could be forced to have Church property used for the equivalent of a Bacchanalia following virtual Black Mass.

The impact of this law will, in reality, be de minimus. Homosexuals will find that they have no difficulty doing whatever it is that they do because there are plenty of businesses who don’t care. The only people who object to these laws are people hostile to religion and to religious people because they can no longer bludgeon their way into acceptance using the courts.