Religion, Same-Sex Relationships & Politics in Indiana & Arkansas

Written by Frank Newport

The controversy over the state-based religious freedom laws in Indiana and Arkansas highlights the continuing impact of religion on social and policy issues in this country. The laws were an apparent outgrowth of the feelings of highly religious segments living in those states that they were being marginalized and that they were not being allowed to express their beliefs in their daily lives. According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Rep. Bob Ballinger, one of the supporters of the law in that state, said “…he has worked for years to protect the rights of religious believers.”