Louisiana Governor and Republican presidential hopeful Bobby Jindal believes that the biggest form of discrimination being faced by Americans nowadays isn't racial but rather discrimination against Christians who still uphold traditional marriage.
During CNN's first Republican presidential debate on Thursday, which was held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, Jindal and three other low-polling GOP presidential nominees were asked to give their opinion concerning the 14-year-old Muslim student in Texas who was arrested for simply bringing a clock to school, according to The Christian Post.
In his response, Jindal pinned down radical Islam and urged Muslim leaders to take a stand against extremism. He added that the biggest discrimination issue in America is actually against those who are fighting same-sex marriage. Jindal referenced Rowan County clerk Kim Davis, the Christian woman who was jailed last week for refusing to sign same-sex marriage licences.
"In America ... right now, the biggest discrimination going on is against Christian business owners and individuals who believe in traditional forms of marriage. They are throwing this woman in jail in Kentucky. Let's talk about that," Jindal said. "Let's talk about the Christian bakers, florist, caterer and musician who simply want to say, 'Don't arrest us or don't discriminate against us, don't shut down our businesses, don't fine us thousands of dollars for believing marriage is between man and a woman. Let's talk about not discriminating against Christians."
Jindal's opponents weren't so quick to agree with his statements. Former New York Governor George Pataki, for one, said that he would have fired Davis if he was her boss, since she should have followed the new Supreme Court-mandated law of the land.
"Yes, Kim Davis is different from Islamist radicals from the Middle East, but on the other hand, we have one rule of law in America. An elected official can't say that 'I am not going to follow that law if it conflicts with my belief,'" Pataki said. "We have to uphold the rule of law. Imagine one minute that was a Muslim who said that 'I don't believe in gay marriage and refuse to perform that wedding.' We wouldn't have had that outrage. There is a place where religion supersedes the rule of law. It is called Iran. It shouldn't be the United States."
On the other hand, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum claimed that objecting to the "unjust law" that is same-sex marriage is something Martin Luther King Jr. himself would have done.
"We need as president someone who is going to fight a court that is abusive and supersedes its authority," Santorum said. "Judicial supremacy is not in the Constitution, and we need a president and a Congress to stand up to the court when it exceeds its constitutional authority."
