Letter: Pasco council should vote against religious freedom resolution

To the Pasco City Council — please, seriously consider what you are about to do. Your resolution in support of religious freedom, if passed, will speak not just for your own personal beliefs, but for the city of Pasco as a whole (“Pasco considers religious freedom resolution for Arlene’s Flowers case,” TCH, Nov. 16).

It will show the rest of the state, and perhaps even the rest of the country in these tumultuous times, that you support discrimination against minority communities. That you believe that religious freedom includes the right for owners of businesses to force their religious beliefs onto the greater community. As a country we have fought for the separation of church and state; that our government would not give preference to any one religious belief over another. This resolution does the exact opposite.

I urge you, again, to seriously consider your actions. And on Nov. 21, when this resolution comes up for a vote, I beg you to vote against it. Minority communities have fought hard for their rights to be recognized, treated equally and protected under the law. Do not, through your actions, allow us to take a step backwards in the fight for universal equality.

This story was originally published November 20, 2016 at 4:20 AM with the headline "Letter: Pasco council should vote against religious freedom resolution."