{"id":889,"date":"2013-08-23T08:24:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-23T08:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2013\/08\/where-does-free-exercise-of-religion-end-and-discrimination-start.html"},"modified":"2013-08-23T08:24:00","modified_gmt":"2013-08-23T08:24:00","slug":"where-does-free-exercise-of-religion-end-and-discrimination-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2013\/08\/where-does-free-exercise-of-religion-end-and-discrimination-start.html","title":{"rendered":"Where does free exercise of religion end, and discrimination start?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Apparently, the state supreme court in New Mexico rejected the appeal<\/a> of a woman found guilty of discrimination for declining to serve as photographer for a same-sex wedding.\u00a0 According to the blog post explaining the ruling, the court decided that (1) the situation is covered by the anti-discrimination law in the state, (2) she is not protected by her right to free speech or free exercise of religion because she is operating a business, and (3) the state\u2019s Religious Freedom Restoration Act applies only to protection against a very limited set of acts by the government.<\/p>\n

So the claim that \u201creligious freedom will be protected\u201d in the case of Illinois\u2019 proposed same-sex marriage is really a very narrow protection.\u00a0 Ministers wouldn\u2019t be required to perform ceremonies and churches to permit them\u00a0in their buildings\u00a0\u2014 but I would imagine that exception would be narrowed only to churches and ministers who are careful to limit their services to parishoners and provide the church-basement reception venue without charge, to avoid being defined as a public accommodation.<\/p>\n

Honestly, I personally have a hard time imagining being thrust into a situation in which you\u2019re being mandated by law to provide a service you find morally wrong, and being expected to cheerfully take pictures of a same-sex ceremony or provide the music at the ceremony or reception or provide a cake with \u201cCongratulations, Adam and Steve\u201d or any number of similar activities.\u00a0 And the response by the gay-marriage supporters is generally either \u201cif you object, you\u2019re a bigot, so I have no sympathy for you\u201d or \u201cdon\u2019t be ridiculous \u2014 no such couple would ever want to hire anyone who opposed gay marriage and would just take their business elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

But this case seems to be following the path of the attorneys who make a business of collecting damages from business owners who haven\u2019t complied with ADA requirements (often due to quite legitimate concerns about cost).\u00a0 One of the commenters on that site, yulva<\/a><\/span>, cites (no link) the original inquiry\u00a0of the woman who ultimately sued:<\/p>\n

We are researching potential photographers for our commitment ceremony on
September 15, 2007 in Taos, NM.
This is a same-gender ceremony. If you are open to helping us celebrate our day
we\u2019d like to receive pricing information.
Thanks<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This\u00a0inquiry was sent via the\u00a0contact form on this company\u2019s website.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

The woman involved\u00a0was identified as \u201can EEO Compliance Representative with the Office of Equal Opportunity where she investigates claims of discrimination and sexual harassment \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, she was acting as a tester, knowing that if she found someone who rejected providing services for gay commitment ceremony, she could sue for attorney\u2019s fees.\u00a0 And once the precedent has been established, there is no reason to think that this won\u2019t become commonplace, as a way to smoke out and punish those who are \u201cbigots\u201d in the eyes of SSM proponents.<\/p>\n

How far does this go?\u00a0 In the case of the civil rights laws insisting that blacks be served at lunch counters, they were fighting discrimination on the basis of skin color.\u00a0 In this new era of \u201canti-discrimination\u201d laws, we\u2019re forbidding individuals from making distinctions on the basis of viewpoint.\u00a0 Can a printer refuse to provide services to a pro-life protester who wants extra-large signs of aborted fetuses?\u00a0 Can a hotel chain refuse to provide services for the KKK annual convention?\u00a0 Or, more closely related, could a wedding-services provider refuse to provide services to a commitment ceremony for a threesome?<\/p>\n

In this case, the law is stubbornly, unjustly blind \u2014 classing the difference between a gay marriage and a traditional marriage as merely one of the sex of the parties, and rejecting the possibility that an individual could have a moral\/religious opposition.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apparently, the state supreme court in New Mexico rejected the appeal of a woman found guilty of discrimination for declining to serve as photographer for a same-sex wedding.\u00a0 According to the blog post explaining the ruling, the court decided that (1) the situation is covered by the anti-discrimination law in the state, (2) she is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhere does free exercise of religion end, and discrimination start?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Apparently, the state supreme court in New Mexico rejected the appeal of a woman found guilty of discrimination for declining to serve as photographer for\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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