title:  TV Host Rips Anti-Gay Christian Leader To Shreds For Using Religion To Excuse Bigotry (VIDEO)
text: If you want to watch an anti-gay conservative  Christian  squirm as he is torn to pieces by a TV host, this will make your day.In North Carolina and Mississippi, Republicans have passed anti-LGBT laws under the guise of religious liberty allowing business owners to discriminate against customers and employees.Other red states such as South Carolina and Tennessee are also trying to push similar bills into law, some of which allow discrimination against not just gay people, but also interracial couples and people who have pre-marital sex as long as the bigot claims that they have a sincere religious belief.Basically these so-called  religious liberty  laws are similar to the kind that were used during the 1960s when white business owners refused service to black people. Now states in the South are trying to legalize discrimination again by dubiously tying it to religious freedom.And when Family Research Council President Tony Perkins attempted to defend the laws, he got his ass handed to him for that very reason.Perkins argued that the laws were all about protecting public safety even though there is not a single example of a trans person sexually assaulting a woman or a child in the bathroom in the 17 states and over 200 cities across the nation that have passed anti-discrimination ordinances to protect the LGBT community.Perkins also stated that the laws are necessary to protect Christian business owners who refuse to serve LGBT people. Matter of Fact host Fernando Espuelas didn t hesitate to call out Perkins for spewing bullshit to excuse bigotry and hate. The idea that someone who has a business license can then discriminate against one group or another is something that was put to rest in the 1960s,  Espuelas correctly pointed out.Perkins then played the slavery card to claim that business owners who have to serve gay people are being forced to be servants. We re talking about forcing someone to take their creative ability, their talent and force them. This is almost forced servitude, saying that you have to be a part of this or the state is going to punish you. The problem is that nobody is asking the business owner for approval, only services that are paid for with money. Discriminating against customers because they are gay is a violation of civil rights. Espuelas didn t back down.  That s essentially the same argument as segregation,  he replied to Perkins.Perkins and Espuelas then proceeded to debate the bigoted laws further, with Espuelas masterfully countering Perkins at every turn.Perkind began by bringing up marriage and how it is a religious institution even though marriage existed long before organized religion. In fact, the early Christian church was hostile toward marriage. We re talking about marriage,  Perkins said.  That is a sacred institution. Just three years ago the president had the same view. But he didn t have the view that people should be discriminated against,  Espuelas replied before defining discrimination for Perkins.  How is it not discrimination if you pick one group, a specific group of people and have different rights for them? How is that not discrimination? No one can deny that marriage is a religious ceremony,  Perkins claimed even though history says otherwise.  And you re forcing someone to violate their beliefs. Perkins went on to claim that nobody is trying to prohibit gay people from getting married even though that s exactly what conservatives have been trying to do and are still trying to do despite the Supreme Court ruling last summer. Perkins said that gay people can simply hire a different photographer or cake baker if the photographer or baker they want refuses to serve them.Perkins said refusal of service is not discrimination, however, that s exactly what it is and Espuelas once again called him out for supporting legalized discrimination. No, and it s very clear, and the reason why you support is why? You support it because specifically these laws allow businesses to discriminate against gay people. Because you have a point of view regarding it. It allows people to live out their religious freedom,  Perkins desperately responded, telling Espuelas that religion shouldn t be kept out of the free market and that they should be allowed to refuse service at will and use religion as an excuse.Here s the video via YouTube:The problem is that Perkins is talking about a slippery slope. Because it s likely Perkins would whine like a petulant child and cry discrimination if an atheist or Muslim business owner refused service to a Christian customer. The outcry would ring out from every conservative corner of the nation. That s why these bills are really only meant to give Christian business owners the right to discriminate, which violates the Constitution because laws are not supposed to favor one religion over another. And the hypocrisy would be prominently pointed out by everyone who has criticized these  religious freedom  bills from the start as the bigoted unconstitutional bills they are.Featured image via video screen capture