Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
"Should a business be able to deny service to a customer if the request conflicts with the owner’s religious beliefs?"
The question comes from the quiz at isidewith.com
I'm having trouble deciding where I stand on the issue. On one hand, I'm not religious, so my gut reaction is to say that no one should be able to use religion to refuse service to anyone. On the other hand, I'm a strong believer in the Constitution and Bill Of Rights, and believe that the government should not interfere in an individual's right to exercise his or her religious beliefs.
I'd be interested in hearing some of your opinions.
What about if that person is black and a white owner refuses services on grounds of religious beliefs?
It does seem like a slippery slope. Over the past couple of years, these laws have been created as a response to business owners being forced to serve gays or same-sex marriage ceremonies, but it's easy to imagine using that type of law to deny service to anyone for any reason.
Last edited by AnUnidentifiedMale; 08-07-2017 at 07:23 PM..
I have issues with members of the LBGTQ community that purposely seek out small businesses that they KNOW are firm in their religious beliefs (whether they be Christian, Jewish, Mormon, Catholic, JW, Muslim, ect....) and demand they serve them, even when there are 30 other businesses within 50 miles that would happily do so, just for the sake of starting a lawsuit.
It's not even a religious issue as much as a property rights issue. You own the business and the products, so you can trade/not trade with whoever you want.
No one should be compelled to endorse or support something.
There is somewhat of a limit. If you believe blacks are inferior, I think it's valid to make laws saying they have to serve black people anyway. And I think that's true of gay people. But, if a black man goes into a bakery and asks the baker to make him a black power cake, the baker can refuse if he does not want to create something with that message. Same with gay marriage.
Put it in an extreme context, should a Jewish baker be compelled to bake a cake with a swastika?
They shouldn't be allowed to refuse service due to religious beliefs. They are running a business. They need to leave their religious beliefs at home when dealing with the public.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
