Indiana Pizzeria Won't Serve Gay Couples

[FatAndFaithless]

What the hell was the point of passing the bill in the first place then? If they have to explicitly say business owners can't use it to deny service, what "religious freedom" were they trying to "restore"?

[Esquilax]

What the hell was the point of passing the bill in the first place then?  If they have to explicitly say business owners can't use it to deny service, what "religious freedom" were they trying to "restore"?

Well, the amendment wouldn't exist without the huge backlash the state incurred since passing the bill. This isn't a redundancy, it's a cowardly backpedal away from these supposedly sincere beliefs, because the almighty dollar is more important.

[robvalue]

Well that's just hilarious!

[Crossless2.0]

What the hell was the point of passing the bill in the first place then?  If they have to explicitly say business owners can't use it to deny service, what "religious freedom" were they trying to "restore"?

Well, the amendment wouldn't exist without the huge backlash the state incurred since passing the bill. This isn't a redundancy, it's a cowardly backpedal away from these supposedly sincere beliefs, because the almighty dollar is more important.

Exactly.  The intent behind the bill originally (not that the GOP will ever admit this) was to provide legal cover to service providers who couldn't deal with the pain of placing two brides or two grooms on a fucking cake.  They didn't anticipate the backlash, and when it became evident that their stunt was going to cost the state serious money and prestige, the GOP -- party of bedrock principles that they are -- couldn't pull a 180 fast enough.

Now someone please explain to me how this supposedly business-friendly party could be so culturally blind as to not see this coming.  It's craven idiocy from start to finish.

[Desert Diva]

Conservatives' secondary religion, Christianity, is only important as it serves to promote their primary religion, the Almighty Church of Amassing Wealth and Power. In any conflict between the two, the needs of the primary religion will be the determining factor.

[Clueless Morgan]

This came across my feed on facebook this morning:

Story About First Business to ‘Publicly Vow to Reject Gay Weddings’ Was Fabricated Out of Nothing
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015/04/01/sto...f-nothing/

Perhaps, you say, they brought this upon themselves, seeking out publicity for their strict biblical views.

Eh…no.

Some cursory internet forensics shows how it happened…or rather, how it was made to happen.

ABC-57 reporter Alyssa Marino’s editor sends her on a half-hour drive southwest of their South Bend studio, to the small town of Walkerton (Pop. ~2,300). According to Alyssa’s own account on Twitter, she “just walked into their shop [Memories Pizza] and asked how they feel” about Indiana’s new Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Owner Crystal O’Connor says she’s in favor of it, noting that while anyone can eat in her family restaurant, if the business were asked to cater a gay wedding, they would not do it. It conflicts with their biblical beliefs. Alyssa’s tweet mentions that the O’Connors have “never been asked to cater a same-sex wedding.”

It definitely puts a different spin on the story, but in the end I still think they should not be exonerated seeing as how immediately after the owner, Crystal O'Connor, says they'll serve anyone, she carries on to say that even though they've never been asked to cater any wedding, homo- or heterosexual, they wouldn't cater a homosexual one.

Had she not included this useless, unsolicited addition to her original statement of "we'll serve anyone" there would have been no public outcry and their doors would still be open.

[Crossless2.0]

Conservatives' secondary religion, Christianity, is only important as it serves to promote their primary religion, the Almighty Church of Amassing Wealth and Power.  In any conflict between the two, the needs of the primary religion will be the determining factor.

That's true.  The problem is that the conservative religious people who got in bed with the GOP didn't get the memo.  They think they're driving that train.  The GOP has been using conservative Christians for over three decades, and the Christers are too stupid to realize it.

[Esquilax]

Now someone please explain to me how this supposedly business-friendly party could be so culturally blind as to not see this coming.  It's craven idiocy from start to finish.

They're a bunch of fantasists who always act as though they live in the world they'd want to live in, rather than the one they demonstrably do live in?

[Crossless2.0]

Now someone please explain to me how this supposedly business-friendly party could be so culturally blind as to not see this coming.  It's craven idiocy from start to finish.

They're a bunch of fantasists who always act as though they live in the world they'd want to live in, rather than the one they demonstrably do live in?

You're getting the hang of this American thing quickly, aren't you?

[robvalue]

Atheists must all kill people all the time! My religion tells me so! I don't care that it's not true, reality is a lie! Ahhhhhhh