It was March 2016. 

Former Gov. Nathan Deal did what he had to do.

The Georgia General Assembly, after raucous debate, had passed a so-called “religious liberty” bill and sent it to the Republican governor’s desk. 

He vetoed it. 

He did the right thing for Georgia and the state has been better because of it. 

Georgia didn’t need a religious liberty bill. It already had one called the Bill of Rights. 

The freedom of religion is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

Broad protections for the freedom of speech and religion have been woven into the fabric of the United States since the birth of the nation. We have practiced open and free religion for more than two centuries. 

Back in 2016, Georgia House Bill 757 protected things already protected. Deal, a Republican and a conservative, knew he was facing prospects that the NFL, Apple, Time Warner, Intel and Salesforce could leave Georgia or stop doing business in the state. Deal infuriated members of his own party. Still, he did the right thing and did not pander to political pressure. 

Fast forward to January 2019. 

Here we go again. It appears some lawmakers in Georgia want to repeat bad history and revisit religious liberty legislation, taking their chances with a new governor. 

House Speaker David Ralston has consistently said the Religious Freedom Restoration Act passed by Congress in 1993 is a federal issue and he has urged caution about state lawmakers taking it up again. Ralston was really insightful when he said we live in a much different world than it was when President Bill Clinton signed RFRA in the ‘90s. 

Still, Gov. Brian Kemp has said he would sign a bill that mimics RFRA if the legislature sends it to his desk. 

Ralston told the press this week he has watched the experiences of other states that have taken up these measures. There’s not much in those experiences that he says he would want to imitate. In his words, “I would just ask us to pause before we get into an issue that I think has the potential to sort of tear the fabric of this state.” 

So, while the issue may pander to a lot of voters, things are not always what they seem and these religious liberty bills are a slippery, and economically dangerous, slope. 

Religious liberty bills in Georgia and across the nation have been promoted as a means to protect churches and Christians but because of the way they are often worded, the legislation can be used as a tool to protect discrimination.

Georgia touts its success in wooing and incubating the film industry, the NFL’s Super Bowl and numerous other large corporations that could easily bail on Georgia investments because of grandstanding, pandering religious liberty legislation.  

If a vocal group of lawmakers push this through this session, they may be left having to explain to thousands of Georgians why they no longer have jobs and why the state’s economy may never fully recover from their ideological campaign. 

With one vote in the House, another vote in the Senate and a pen stroke by the governor, Georgia could go from being a pro-business to an anti-business state in a matter of days. 

To be clear, everyone in Georgia should be free to practice their respective faith and no one should trample on that freedom.

The right to do so is protected by these words: 

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” 

That should be sufficient. 

The Bill of Rights is good for America. It ought to be good enough for Georgia. 

Jim Zachary is CNHI Deputy National Editor, regional editor for its Georgia, Florida, Texas, Alabama and Mississippi newspapers and editor of the Valdosta Daily Times. He can emailed at jzachary@cnhi.com