RE: Ministers Threatened with Jail/Fines For Refusing to Officiate at Gay Weddings
October 22, 2014 at 10:11 am
(This post was last modified: October 22, 2014 at 10:16 am by Heywood.)
(October 22, 2014 at 10:01 am)FatAndFaithless Wrote:(October 22, 2014 at 9:58 am)Heywood Wrote: The error in your thinking is you think religion and business are mutually exclusive. Sorry, but religious activities preformed by citizens don't magically disappear because they become entangled in business.....and yes I agree this is a business and not a church. A law which limits the free exercise of religion should be struck down because it is unconstitutional.
When it comes to the legal code that all businesses follow, yes Woody, religion stays out of it. They're running a business, not a church, they have to follow the legal codes for business, it's very simple.
Just because a bakery owner thinks interracial marriage is a sin beacuse of their faith, they still have to serve those couples. Just because an accountant thinks homosexuality is against their religion, they don't get to turn away gay people because of their faith. Renting out their space in a for profit business is no different, and these pastors have to play by the same rules as everyone else.
If you think that law should be struck down, fine, vote on it. But you don't get to break the law with impunity until then.
There is no principle which says religion cannot be entangled with business.....you're just making that up. A lot of people make their living peddling religion. They engage in the business of religion.
There are a lot of people who engage in the business of speech. Just because they try to utilize their constitutional right to speak to make a living doesn't mean they lose it.
Last, no one is breaking the law with impunity. A lawsuit was filed so that they wouldn't have to choose between breaking the law or engaging in religious ceremony mandate by the state.
(October 22, 2014 at 10:05 am)FatAndFaithless Wrote:(October 22, 2014 at 10:02 am)Heywood Wrote: I don't like any anti-discrimination laws except those which apply to the government. If a private doctor did not want to operate on me because of the color of my skin, then he should be free to refuse.
How very easy to say. I'm going to take a wild swing in the dark and say you're...probably a white, straight, married Christian living in a western country? Easy to say that man.
It would be easy for anyone to say if the government didn't pass discriminatory laws or laws that enabled discrimination in the first place......but that is the subject of another thread.
