Freedom of Religion Still Alive in KY

Most of you all know that I have been working with several groups including Take Back Kentucky and the ACLU on the "Amish Bill" that re-writes Kentucky's laws on slow moving vehicles. The current law has restricted the freedom of religion rights of many Amish sects in Kentucky. They have recently made the national news because they have refused to put the mandatory orange triangle reflector on their horse-drawn buggies. The orange triangle is in direct conflict with their religion because they do not believe in flashy colors and they also don't believe in the "trinity" which is also depicted by the triangle symbol.

Advocacy groups for this Amish group and proponents of a measure to tweak the KY law that violates their freedoms have worked together along with Sen. Winters and Sen. Thayer who proposed this week an alternative to the orange triangle. Sen. Winters proposed in the Senate transportation committee this Wednesday a measure that would allow slow moving vehicles to have an alternative that allows them to put a gray reflective tape around the vehicle that is as reflective (and actually more reflective) compared to the orange triangle.

This is a common sense solution to this issue that allows this Amish sect to practice their rights to freedom of religion while protecting them and us while not wasting thousands of taxpayer dollars trying to prosecute Amish members.

This common sense measure was readily acknowledged and therefor passed the Transportation Committee unanimously.

I hope that this bill passes as easily through Congress and is signed quickly by the Governor.

Side note: You may not be Amish and not care about this but if we don't stick up for their freedom of religion now then who is going to stick up for your religious rights when the government comes after you?

This quote from the Nazi/German era is still relevant today:

First they came for the communists,

and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak out because I was Protestant.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.