Sacramento, CA…Senator Ted Gaines (R-El Dorado) today issued the following statement regarding Governor Brown’s signing of Senate Bill 1146 (Lara), a bill that discriminates against all religious-based universities and infringes their ability to ensure faith-based practices are upheld on campus, undermining the concrete right of religious freedom guaranteed in the First Amendment.

“We are heading towards a one belief system, and anyone who strays from that state-sponsored orthodoxy gets punished. This bill is a step towards putting a scarlet letter on the chest of all religious institutions.

“The First Amendment is clear: Christian and other religious institutions should be free to practice their faith without state interference. This is phase one of a radical strategy to tear down religious institutions. First it’s to identify the target, isolate it, then demonize it. This bill could have been worse, but as part of a larger strategy to eliminate religion, it’s alarming.

“California prides itself on multiculturalism, but it seems like Christians are one culture the ruling elites fear and target more than any other. We are blessed to live in a free nation and we should be able to respect beliefs that differ from our own.”

Senator Ted Gaines represents the 1st Senate District, which includes all or parts of Alpine, El Dorado, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Shasta, Sierra and Siskiyou counties.