All hell (no pun intended) is breaking loose over a “religious freedom” bill, which has been introduced in the Louisiana Legislature by Bossier Republican state Rep. Mike Johnson. It mirrors, and in some respects surpasses, the recent controversial legislation in Indiana and Arkansas, which created a firestorm of criticism and backlash from organizations and businesses. Both states were forced to temper their legislation.

What is even more disturbing, in a rush to pander to the religious right, Republican presidential contenders like Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum and Ben Carson immediately defended Indiana’s legislation. They leaped before they looked at the outrage that engulfed it.

As I have said on many occasions, mixing politics and religion is a recipe for disaster, and Johnson’s bill is a prime example. Has he been paying attention to what happened in those two states? If he has, he should withdraw this bill and save our state and its citizens from a lot of bad publicity, embarrassment, heartache and possible boycotts. It will also have a negative impact on tourism. To be sure, Louisiana has a hard enough task now attracting people and big-time events.

It is not surprising, however, that Johnson would be the legislator to introduce such a bill. He has made a living by fighting for extreme conservative causes and views. And, of course, he has the perfect governor in Republican Bobby Jindal, who is looking for any issue to enhance his presidential aspirations, to back him up. We can only hope that saner heads will prevail and legislators will deny passage of the bill.

Throughout history, religion has always been a double-edged sword. While it has many advantages for a civilized society, it has also been the reason for the fighting of wars and many forms of discrimination, such as slavery, sexism and racism. Now the target is the civil rights of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Make no bones about it. That’s exactly what Johnson’s bill, and the support he is receiving from the religious right is all about. They are desperately trying to pre-empt what many believe will be a U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex marriage, giving Louisiana what they think is a hook so it does not have to abide by the law of the land.

Johnson’s bill called “The Louisiana Marriage and Conscience Act” would allow a business owner, based upon his or her religious beliefs, to refuse service to anyone without intervention or retribution from state government. It would give businesses a legal right to discriminate against same-sex couples, but also interfaith and interracial couples as well. I suppose people could also be denied service if they are divorced or an adulterer or an atheist.

Many states have laws which prohibit businesses from discriminating against customers based on their sexual orientation, race or religion. Some legal scholars contend that everyone is entitled to their own religious beliefs, but those beliefs do not give businesses or publicly funded social service agencies the right to discriminate. Not so in Louisiana. There are no statewide laws protecting LGBT citizens. Only New Orleans and Shreveport have citywide laws against discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. In fact, a bill has been introduced in the Legislature to do just that. State Rep. Austin Badon, D-New Orleans, has filed a bill to protect all state residents from discrimination. Wouldn’t it be nice to see the Legislature and the governor allow the entire state to come into the 21st century?

The firestorm created by Johnson’s bill is already well underway. Three organizations, Equality Louisiana, Louisiana Progress Action and Louisiana Trans Advocates, have come together to fight the bill and have launched the #NotMyLouisiana campaign. They say they are flooding Johnson’s office with phone calls. #NotMyLouisiana is an action and information center where one can find updates on the campaign, information about Johnson’s bill HB 707, and ways to take action for equality. More than 25 community organizations have joined the campaign, and more are expected to do so.

There is a good side to the religious coin, of course. Rodney Starks, author of the book “America’s Blessings – How Religion Benefits Everyone,” concludes that thanks to America’s rich religious culture, it has lower crime rates, higher levels of charitable giving, better health, stronger marriages and less suicide compared with some European nations. That is all well and good. But I often wonder how someone who proclaims to be so religious can discriminate against others. Whatever happened to, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy self.”

I think everyone can agree that in all religions there are teachings of goodwill to our fellow human beings. At the World Parliament of Religions in 1993, a declaration towards a Global Ethic was made. The principle was signed by 143 leaders from the major faiths. The simple declaration read: “We must treat others as we wish others would treat us.” To that, I say, “Amen.”

Lou Gehrig Burnett, an award-winning journalist, has been involved with politics for 44 years and was a congressional aide in Washington, D.C., for 27 years. He also served as executive assistant to former Shreveport Mayor Bo Williams. Burnett is the publisher of the weekly “FaxNet Update” and can be reached at 861-0552 or louburnett@comcast.net.