RE: Do you have a right to discriminate?
The analogy you made in this video about a circle of friends seems like a false comparison to me. Choosing friends is a matter of personal preference, and you're right that the government should not impose standards on that sort of thing.
However, which customers you choose to serve is different. The woman you interview mentions that she chooses friends that are similar to her, ones that don't cause drama, and you say that business owners should have a similar ability to choose customers. But when you open a business, you are not bringing people into your life as friends, you are interacting with them professionally, in an exchange of goods or services for money. If a customer can pay and is following the law (e.g. not causing public disturbances at your establishment) then there is no reason to turn them away. It doesn't matter if their lifestyle or identity is "against your religion", or if you think they're unworthy of your services for some other reason, because you're not being forced to live in those ways--only to serve a fellow human being and treat them with dignity and respect, despite differences in belief or lifestyle.
If a business owner can't separate personal belief (or in some cases, bigotry) from the way they conduct their business, they probably shouldn't be conducting a business.
No one is forced to believe in religion but it's a constitutionally protected right if one does. Just like it's a constitutionally protected right for gays to marry. This isn't about someone walking in and ordering cupcakes or picking up a batch of flowers this is about telling people that they have to participate in a gay wedding against their religious views artistically. This means they work in close conjunction with the wedding designer to prepared and set up arrangements for a gay wedding. Though you and I don't see a problem with this because we are not religious, we aren't held to a doctrine of belief so it's hard for us to comprehend how hard this could really be on them....but in their eyes they see themselves being condemned to hell for it. We have to learn some give and take of respect for opposing views.
I suppose if someone truly believed they would go to hell for contributing to a gay wedding then i wouldn't want them to be obligated to do so. And I'm sure there are people who believe this (although to me it seems like God would value love and caring for one another "love thy neighbor" over... whatever value people think they're demonstrating by refusing service).
It's complicated, because I can't claim to know what people are thinking. But laws that allow businesses to discriminate on these kinds of basis are risky because they also allow people to discriminate simply because they don't like a certain group of people, and that doesn't sit right with me.
Still, if you are a gay couple trying to marry (this is the most common example so I'll run with it) you probably would prefer to work with a florist/cake maker/whomever who doesn't think they'll go to hell just for helping you with your wedding.
The problem arises when/if there isn't access to those kinds of services from non-discriminatory businesses.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. There's certainly a lot to consider here
I totally agree with you about them truly believing they will go to hell. What I find the most ironic about religion is the ability according to the Bible to just ask for forgiveness no matter what the sin or violation in the Bible that states it's wrong. Like a killer for example, the Bible says that thou shall not kill so does that mean if someone kills somebody all they have to do is ask for forgiveness and can enter heaven. Same with thou shall not commit adultery but many men do and under religious doctrine all they have to do is ask for forgiveness. When you look at it from that aspect those who commit sins under the guise they can just ask for forgiveness probably do discriminate just because of the lifestyle and not because the Bible says a man should not be with another man or a woman with a woman. I genuinely believe though that people who find themselves losing their businesses, homes and lifelong savings to fight in court against having to create artistically for same sex weddings believe in the scripture whole heartedly. They really believe that heaven and hell exist and they adhere to the doctrine of their religion seriously. That's why I think there are so few of these cases in court, most people would just do it and ask for forgiveness, while a few take following the rules of their doctrine seriously.
Well said @sandpiper, is this guy using good old STEEM.IT to run his hate agenda?
Is that cool around here? Im new...so I ask before getting all the way in.
Are you trying to discriminate against his hateroidoid self? :D
You'll have to watch his video and decide what you think he's doing for yourself. I'm not sure what the political culture is on here yet, I've only been around for just under a week.
Couldn't have said it better! In the real world, such bad business sense is usually the downfall of the business, unless they hold a government enforced monopoly (called privatization).