The Michigan House of Representatives has passed a state version of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act despite outcry from anti-Christian groups in the state.

The bill, HB5958, cleared the House Judiciary Committee 7-4 and passed the full House 59-50.  The Senate now picks up the bill for consideration.

The bill was introduced in the state house because the federal law, signed into law in 1993 by President Bill Clinton, only applies to federal issues.  Legislators in Michigan wanted to make sure Christians and other people of faith had their rights protected from state groups and organizations.

The statute reads: “The free exercise of religion is an inherent, fundamental, and unalienable right secured by Article 1 of the state Constitution of 1963 and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”

The bill is in response to anti-Christian groups that want to eliminate Christians and people of faith from being able to exercise their rights in society.

“I support individual liberty and I support religious freedom,” House Speaker Jase Bolger (R) declared Thursday to the Judiciary Committee. “I have been horrified as some have claimed that a person’s faith should only be practiced while hiding in their home or in their church.”