The recent news has been dominated by two eerily similar stories. Indiana has passed, and then modified, a religious freedom law whose murky language prompted concerns of discrimination against LGBT people. And leading world powers have conducted negotiations over a plan to verify that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon. Both places begin with “I,” and are in the news, and have leaders who care about religion. It’s basically the same thing.
Leading conservatives want to know how it is that liberals can possibly oppose Indiana’s treatment of sexual orientation while supporting negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. It’s obvious hypocrisy. Here to expertly dissect the contradiction are such moral philosophers as Rush Limbaugh, who says:
Iran ought to be the absolute worst place on earth if leftists are honest about themselves. Iran produces oil. Iran murders, executes homosexuals. Did you know that Apple Inc. has more stores selling iPhones and iPads in Tehran than they do in all of Indiana. And yet the CEO sees fit to describe life in Indiana as unfit and un-American while there are more stores in one city in Iran selling Apple products in a country that executes homosexuals when they are discovered. And no sense of irony is seen. No sense of hypocrisy is seen.
Senator Tom Cotton has some related thoughts. Asked about the controversy in Indiana, Cotton replied:
I also think it’s important that we have a sense of perspective about our priorities. In Iran they hang you for the crime of being gay. They’re currently imprisoning an American preacher for spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ in Iran. We should focus on the most important priorities that our country faces right now. And I would say that a nuclear armed Iran, given the threat it poses … is the most important thing we could be focusing on right now.
And conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham really boils it down for you:
It’s so true. Liberals are willing to negotiate a verification treaty with Iran, but the only policy they will consider with regard to Indiana is a bombing campaign. How on earth these people can possibly favor an international inspections program to prevent a nuclear weapon in Iran without also demanding inspectors be sent to Indiana… or something. Anyway, the liberals who want to move the Final Four from Indiana to Iran are hypocrites.
