Baptist pastor and Mississippi state senator Phillip Gandy recently sponsored and the legislature passed a religious freedom restoration act \u201cto protect people of faith from having their religious freedoms violated,\u201d says Gandy. But others see it as an attempt to legalize discrimination under the pretext of religion, or to insulate the state’s Christian residents from the changes in LGBT civil rights occurring across the country. \u201cIt\u2019s aiming at keeping government in its place,\u201d Gandy explains. But National Council of Churches president and general secretary Jim Winkler describes it as \u201ca rearguard action by those concerned by changes taking place in society.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"