You gotta love the message in this song by singersongwriter Bill Staines. Then again, maybe not, at least if your religious beliefs run to the right. Some people, for example, maintain that a wedding cake baker who doesn’t believe in same-sex marriage should have the legal right to deny services to a gay or lesbian couple. Put another way, they don’t believe that gays and lesbians “got a place in the choir.”

The Georgia legislature is currently considering the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which would justify the refusal of services based on religious beliefs. In a blatant play to evangelical Christians, former Florida governor and likely 2016 GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush recently spoke out in favor of this legislation.

Indiana beat Georgia to the punch and recently passed a similar law. The outcry from opponents of legalized discrimination has been swift and loud. National organizations have threatened to change plans to hold conferences in Indiana. The NCAA has expressed deep concern. Even the Executive Director of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce termed the law, “highly unnecessary.” The Indiana legislature got it wrong and other legislatures might do well to recognize that fact.

The term “ slippery slope” comes to mind. What if my religion maintains that whites are superior to blacks or men are superior to women? Should I be able to discriminate accordingly? Interracial marriage was illegal in many states until the 1967 Supreme Court decision that deemed anti- miscegenation laws unconstitutional. Remember when women had to get the signatures of their husbands (or fathers) before taking out a mortgage or bank loan?

Oh … and Jeb Bush’s wife Columba was born in Mexico. His father, former president George Walker Bush, once referred to Jeb’s kids as the “ little brown ones.” Jeb and Columba would not have been allowed to marry in many states before 1967.

Happily, businesses can no longer refuse to serve black ( or brown) people because of the color of their skin. And happily, same-sex marriage is now legal in 37 states; moreover, it’s just a matter of time before it becomes legal nationwide. But the belief lingers in some circles that you’re threatening “religious freedom” if you don’t allow people to discriminate based on their religious beliefs.

Let’s get real. Discrimination is wrong, period, whether it’s discrimination against gays and lesbians or against people with brown skin or blue eyes or short legs. And please don’t cite Biblical teachings as a justification unless you’re ready to ban divorce (Mark 10:9: “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”) Or wearing gold (Timothy 2:9: “Likewise I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discretely, not with braided hair and gold or petals or costly garments.”) Or… the list goes on and on, especially if you review the colorful Thou- shalt- nots spelled out in Leviticus.

My wife and I recently spent an enjoyable vacation in the British Virgin Islands with two good friends from Vermont. They happen to be married to each other. And they happen to be gay. And … big deal. These two men have each had family members marginalize them in part, at least, because of their sexual orientation. I have many other good friends who are gay or straight — or married or single — or brown skinned or short-legged — or young or old. They’re my friends, because I value who they are as people and what they bring to the world and to my life. I simply don’t get people — especially self-professed “Christians” — who would deny others the right to recognize their deep love through legal marriage. I just don’t get it.

All God’s children got a place in the choir ….

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David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary as well as ideas for future “Just a Little Old” columns; he can be reached at dtreadw575@aol.com.