The Battle of Indiana: The Attack on Believers, Gay Rights, and Gay Christians

TIME MAGAZINE
By David Von Drehle

This week's cover for TIME magazine

In war—whether a shooting war or a culture war makes no difference on this point—only some of the battles are carefully planned. Others explode as if from nowhere. A little skirmish or rearguard action can quickly turn into a major collision, a Battle of Gettysburg, for example. Something like that happened in Indiana during the last days of March. A bill in the state legislature, a mostly symbolic last stand by routed conservatives opposed to same-sex marriage, triggered a massive response from gay-rights advocates. Governor Mike Pence’s signature on his state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) looked at first like a successful raid on competing social conservatives in the crowded field of Republican presidential hopefuls. [link]