Obviously this has been in the news lately. Obviously it is divisive. Obviously, some people are ignorant about both history and current culture, not to mention human decency.
Where to start, the author of that post says? I sympathize. I am often at a loss as to where to start with conservative idiocy. So many angles of attack, on so many ridiculous and repugnant ideas. The direct discrimination, the echoes of history that are sadly ignored. I'll start at the end, where he says it's tyranny to force people to abandon their beliefs, after suggesting that it is abhorrent to participate in a gay wedding.
Well. Tyranny? Really? That's inaccurate and overwrought. And it's abhorrent? That's a pretty strong word. And not appropriate. You think it's abhorrent, as opposed to being the decent thing to do? And how are you participating, exactly? You don't have to go, and smile and celebrate their love. Of course, that would be a decent thing to do, but if you disagree with gay marriage, hey, don't go. And don't marry someone of your own sex. But abhorrent? Look, you're not being forced to get married to a guy, or have sex with him. You're baking a cake. But whatever.
The article is full of nastiness, false analogies, and distortions. I haven't read something so mean-spirited in a long time. But then I tend not to read conservative blogs, or watch Fox, so maybe I'm missing out. It saddens me that people use "moral" principles to be so demeaning to others. And it saddens me that people are so willing to discriminate against others.
This law is far more broad than its proponents make it out to be. It would apply in all kinds of situations, for all kinds of businesses. And business owners would be refusing service based on who customers are, what they look like, etc. Hm. Would it be okay to refuse service to a heterosexual, white, Christian male? If I own a business and someone walks in wearing a cross around their neck, I can refuse to serve him? Is that really the path you want to take the country down? Talk about divisive- this kind of law, this kind of attitude, is abhorrent to me. But if it were passed, I would refuse to serve anyone who I suspected was a Republican, a Teabagger, a fundamentalist Christian, anyone wearing Duck Dynasty items, and of course smokers (I'd notice the smell on their clothes and breath. I find it abhorrent.)
Not so long ago, laws existed in this country that supported this kind of bad behavior. Not so long ago, people used the Bible to protest interracial marriages, school desegregation, etc. Have we learned nothing? There is still discrimination based on race, on gender, on sexuality. Laws should be used to reduce such discrimination, not codify it.
This is, simply, a situation where people are using their religion to discriminate against other people. A peaceful, non-discriminatory religion, at that. What would Jesus do? Seriously. Would he turn away people? Would he refuse to heal someone who was gay? Of course not. Some people who call themselves Christian seem to have forgotten Jesus' lessons. And then they use bits of the Bible to back up their abhorrent beliefs. Just as slave owners used the Bible to justify themselves (and, of course, they used their property rights, another common thread here.)
Isn't the purpose of business to serve people and make money? Why would you, as an owner, turn away customers? Why would a state push away both businesses and customers? Like them or not, surely, 'mo money, right?
I read a few other articles on this issue, like this one and this one. They lay things out better than I can, and are wittier to boot.
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