Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant's Love For Religious Freedom Gets National Recognition

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is the recipient of the Family Research Council's inaugural Samuel Adams Religious Freedom Award for enacting laws that protects religious liberty. 

FRC President Tony Perkins remarked that Bryant's efforts to stand for religious liberty rather than business interests and advocacy groups is a rare trait, especially as pressure increases to throw out conservative values.

"Targeted by those who wish to advance a radical social agenda, Governor Bryant has stood firm and unequivocal in defending religious liberty for the citizens of Mississippi," Perkins said.

Bryant received backlash from an LGBT-rights movement this year after he signed the "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act." It prevents the government from discriminating against people who believe in traditional marriage.

In 2014, the governor also signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which keeps the government from restricting the free exercise of religion. 

"Our nation is in need of men of devotion like Sam Adams today, Christian statesmen whose understanding of transcendent truth leads them to passionately defend private property and religious freedom as the very foundation of a free and prosperous society," Perkins remarked. "Governor Phil Bryant is one of those men."