Originally posted by theIowaHawk:
Originally posted by PhantomFlyer:
1) I don't really care what people think here. I haven't read through 4 pages of posts and I know what people are already going to say. The law IS the issue and the media outcry (lying about the law).
But that is exactly what you are misunderstanding by not, you know, reading the thread.
1a) Consider this: Someone says Law A is great because it allows him to murder black males with impunity. BUT, in reality law A doesn't say that. If the conversation surrounds the thought of that person, it isn't really about Law A. That is the case here. Clearly, Indiana does not want RFRA to allow discrimination against homosexuals, they changed the law to reflect that. But, there are people out there who were defending the law on the very basis of discriminating against homosexuals...thereby necessitating this discussion.
As to why Indiana officials revised the law, it's because they are dopes who caved under public pressure from people who have no freakin' idea what the law is even about. It's a PR move.
1b) And then you claim things like this. Ignore what they say, its obviously whatever you claim they mean. If they didn't mean for it to discriminate against homosexuals (your claim, since you call it "lying about the law" above), then why would they be lying when revising the law?
2) The Jim Crow laws mandated discrimination. It was sanctioned by the gov't and those who tried to do business with blacks were in violation of the law.
Of course, I never disagreed with that.
Does this mean there would have been no discrimination if there were no Jim Crow laws? Of course not. However, would we have needed civil rights laws without Jim Crow? I'm not sure.
2a) How can you not be sure? Jim Crow laws were overturned, the laws were changed...and businesses still discriminated, openly.
Eventually it would have made bad business sense to not do business with as many customers as possible. We'll never know but the gov't certainly made things much worse than if we had let people enter into contracts/associations of their own will. Gay activists have compared their cause with the civil rights movements. They aren't close to the same thing.
2b) I think you need to re-learn the civil rights movement and what occurred....after Jim Crow laws. I'm surprised you have this naive belief that the Civil Rights Act "fixed" the situation in 1964. Interesting.
3) Why do you presume they didn't know the religious beliefs of the bakers and their stance on gay marriage?
Because there is no need for any other presumption. If you presume they knew, it doesn't change the facts, except to make you "angry" at them.
3a) Look at it this way: Either sexual orientation should be protected in public accommodation....or it shouldn't. The motives of the customer does not matter. You clearly think they should not be protected...but you want to label them as "activist" and basically rabble-rousers for the purpose of making the argument emotional, and not logical.
Let's say they didn't know (and I"m skeptical of that fact). Why would you want someone making your cake who openly opposes your wedding? Again, if you were a black man would you go to a baker who's a known bigot? Of course this is about message. It's not about finding a baker who will make the cake but forcing this baker to participate in the event that contradicts their religious beliefs. So, in an effort to stamp out discrimination of gays we have now possibly violated the religious liberty of a business. Who is more harmed? They gay couple can get the cake made by a hundred other bakeries.
3b) Again, you base this on the idea that 99% of things will serve them what they want. So, then you necessarily agree that religion, race, and sex don't need laws protecting them anymore either?
4) The market will take care of it. The law is unnecessary.
4a) You say this right after saying it has been necessary in the past.
I don't think the gov't should be involved at all in telling a bakery who they should service, however, the courts have screwed that pooch. So, now we are dealing with competing rights. The right of the protected class to be free from discrimination and a business owner to preserve their religious liberty.
4b) That is only true if you believe that certain things are actually affecting religious liberty, which is largely the discussion taking place. Thats why questions about race is brought up: Should a "baker" be allowed to not serve blacks based on "religious liberty"? Most people would laugh and say "no", which is why most proponents of this work so hard to say that homosexuals =/= blacks and therefore they won't discuss it in that context.
If we go down the road of "religious liberty" = freedom of contract/association, even in public accommodation, then nobody, literally nobody, could be protected.
I go back to my earlier question? Who has been harmed more, the baker who's religious liberty has been violated, or the gay couple who can get their cake at another bakery? This law would only allow the business to make a case before the court and let a judge rule on it's merits, it wouldn't provide defacto discrimination of gays for whomever claim their religious liberty had been violated.
I agree with that interpretation of the law, but RFRA was not necessary for them to argue this. Many, many supporters of RFRA want it to be an affirmative defense, needing to be disproved by the complainant, not proved by the proprietor.
Sorry, I have a serious distrust of the gov't. This is an issue that could be handled without the gov't/court interference.
4c) Great, then you agree that the law is not necessary. You also agree that the origin of this thread, the boycotting of the State of Indiana is proper.
5) The Supreme Court disagrees with you. Just because you are a business doesn't mean you lose your religious liberties.
5a) Again, I am certainly not saying that a person loses their religious liberties. I am drawing the line where those claimed "liberties" are/are not being infringed.
Not every business owner checks their religious beliefs at the door. What about the owner of a religious supply store? Should they have to violate their religious liberty to satisfy the whims of a tyrannical gov't (think the Obamacare birth control mandate)?
5b) There is the fear-mongering again, "tyrannical gov't". Because surely it isn't the people who are doing this...you know, the people who have stood up to boycott an entire state? Yes, it was a tyrannical government that did that.
5c) You asked the question: Who is more harmed? Using Hobby Lobby as an example you want to use: The employees, not the employer. He now gets to push his "religious liberties" on every single one of his employees. They are far more harmed.
"Baking a cake with a penis entering an anus might be considered
performance in relation to the act that is seen as
against-their-religious-belief, but baking a cake that says "Wedding!"
would not (especially a pre-made cake). "
I know this isn't your intent but you've perfectly described how silly and complicated the law is and how unnecessary it is in this situation. It's like we need a flowchart, if you do A then go to B but otherwise go to C. It's insane. Let the market take care of this instead of the clunky big hand of gov't.
5d) And, pray tell, what if the people want to protect homosexuals?
By the way, my comments aren't meant to say if I was a baker I'd refuse to make a cake for a gay marriage. It wouldn't violate my religious beliefs. My point is only that those who are protesting the Indiana law are mostly whack jobs and pot stirrers in my opinion.
Whack jobs and pot stirrers:
NCAA
Big Ten
Charles Barkley
Tim Cook (Apple CEO)
the State of Connecticut
and on and on and on
1a) That is your opinion and you couldn't be more wrong. The law is almost word for word what the federal law is. As for Indiana changing it "to protect against discrimination" that is just caving under public pressure. It doesn't mean the law was poorly written, it means the gay lobby has won the PR to misrepresent the law. As for "
there are people out there who were defending the law on the
very basis of discriminating against homosexuals...thereby necessitating
this discussion.". Who is doing this? Some idiots on a message board? Who cares? The law is the same as the federal law. Please cite for me the examples of discrimination going on in Indiana prior to this law. Why do you keep misrepresenting the law. At it would do is allow a baker to go to court and argue that their religious liberty has be violated if they have to bake a gay to celebrate a gay wedding. Most likely they will lose but it will give them a hearing . They aren't discriminating against gays for being gay (they are making cakes for gays), they just find it against their religious beliefs to celebrate in the wedding of a gay couple. The court would decide if they've met the necessary standard.
1b) Don't be so naive. The law was meant to protect religious liberty in the states. The USSC stated in the Hobby Lobby opinion that the states COULD set up state birth control mandates that would not violate RFRA. Hence the need for a similar law at the state level. We know politicians are so great at telling the truth and politics never enter their decision making, especially after a national beatdown and threats of boycotts from people who had no freaking clue what was in the law. Don't be so gullible. Pence was backtracking strictly for political reasons, much like Congress has done on gov't shutdowns. You are a smart enough guy to see politics where it exists.
2a) Why do you assume differently. The states institutionalized discrimination via slavery and Jim Crow. Apples to cinder blocks in the case of gays. Why would businesses have not discriminated? Because smart investors wouldn't have and would have hurt the bottom line of companies that didn't do business with blacks.
2b) LOL. You are putting words in my mouth and ignored other things I've said. You don't think hundreds of years of slavery and decades of Jim Crow institutionalized discrimination in this country? Of course the discrimination didn't disappear overnight, the law didn't change hearts and minds immediately. It took time. However it was the GOVT discrimination that caused the problem, not the market. There's no evidence that if we didn't have slavery (exacerbated by JIm Crow laws) that we would have had the rampant discrimination in this country. Most likely people would have been much more agreeable to enter into contracts with people of different races.
Still, the gay situation isn't even remotely similar to the civil rights of blacks. Blacks were forced to go to different schools (inferior), drink from different drinking fountains, sit at the back of the bus, sleep in different hotels, etc. This has not been the case with gays. The remedy for blacks was appropriate because of the errors of the totalitarian gov't actions. However, this isn't the case with gays.
3a) Agree, I don't think it should be protected. Of course the motives matter when assessing damage. What damage has been done if a baker refuses to bake a cake for a gay marriage? Of course their actions are a activist and rabble rousing. I've already said I"m not making a legal argument. The court would have to decide whether baking a wedding violates a person religious liberty. Neither one of us can argue that definitively. I'm more interested in the motive. What is the point? The point is the gay community doesn't just want acceptance they want approval of gay marriage. If you disagree with this view you are to be called a homophobe, put out of business, etc. Ironically it is the left who is intolerant of different viewpoints. They have become the modern day McCarthyites. This is why you see speech codes at newspapers and college campuses and why conservative speakers are shouted down at universities.
3b) Yes, I don't believe the law is any longer needed. However, the law is the law. I've already stated why I have little problem with civil rights laws applying to races, I do have a problem with it applying for sexual orientation. Remember, the people making cakes aren't not selling these cakes to gays. If they come in and want a birthday cake or whatever, they are selling them cakes. They just don't want to sell them a wedding cake for religious reasons. You've already said that if the gay couple wanted cake with a penis and butt on it they wouldn't have to make it. There are already limits. Should a Jewish deli have to cater a luncheon for the Nation of Islam in which Farakhann is going to give a talk about how Israel should be destroyed?
4a) The law is unnecessary in regards to sexual orientation.
4b)
That is only true if you believe that certain things are
actually affecting religious liberty, which is largely the discussion
taking place. Thats why questions about race is brought up: Should a
"baker" be allowed to not serve blacks based on "religious liberty"?
Most people would laugh and say "no", which is why most proponents of
this work so hard to say that homosexuals =/= blacks and therefore they
won't discuss it in that context.
If we go down the road of
"religious liberty" = freedom of contract/association, even in public
accommodation, then nobody, literally nobody, could be protected.
Nonsense. Please cite examples of me where gays have been denied a cake just for being gay. You argument is a fallacious one. The law wouldn't protect a baker from selling a cake to a gay man, it "may" protect a baker from selling a wedding cake to a gay couple. Again, it would let the court hear the arguments and decide if the standards have been met to exempt the discrimination on religious grounds. It doesn't give free reign of gays. It will be difficult for a business to meet the standards needed to claim a violation of religious liberty. This is the right way to handle this issue. Instead of giving an automatic "no", the law let's people have their day in court to argue their case. As a lawyer I'm shocked you are against this especially we have competing rights being argued. I know you are firmly rooted in the gay right cause but the hysteria in your final sentence shows either you have an incredible weak grasp of the law or you are too biased to argue rationally. The law is almost identical to the federal law. I don't see you screaming for a repeal of the fed law or the world is going to fall apart if it's not repealed.
4c) Totally disagree with you the law wasn't necessary and the opinion Hobby Lobby spells this out clearly. The birth control mandated was ruled unconstitutional because it violated the fed RFRA, however, a state could set up this mandate and it would not violate the fed RFRA. The state laws are absolutely necessary. The boycotting of Indiana was ridiculous. None of the boycotters even understood the law and were just whipping up hysteria. This was nothing more than raising campaign dollars for the left. It's the continuation of the shameful tactic that is so often used by the left like in the U Va fake rape case or the "Hands up, don't shoot". You should learn to be more cynical and see things through a more critical eye.
5a) And who makes the determination when my religious liberties are being infringed? You? Just because you don't think it violates a person's religious liberty doesn't make it so. Let the courts hash it out after hearing evidence.
5b) Not fear mongering. We have a tyrannical gov't. When the gov't forces me to buy a product (health insurance) and then forces me to violate my religious liberty then we have tyranny. When the President institutes quasi-amnesty without the approval of Congress or enters into deals with Iran without Congressional approval, it's tyranny.
5c) No, they aren't. First off they know the rules when they go to work for a company like Hobby Lobby. They know their beliefs. They are free to purchase insurance elsewhere or go to work for another company that is more in line with your beliefs. In other words, they have options. Under your scenario Hobby Lobby has no option but to violate the religious beliefs on a daily basis or close their business. You are letting you bias cloud your reasoning. Besides, why are you rehashing Hobby Lobby since the court ruled on this and didn't agree with your reasoning?
5d) Protect them from what? Having to buy a wedding cake at a company who would love to have their business. LOL. You are the knight in shining armor.
Whack jobs and pot stirrers:
NCAA
Big Ten
Charles Barkley
Tim Cook (Apple CEO)
the State of Connecticut
and on and on and on
Yes, some of these a full fledged whack jobs, others political opportunists, and others caving into political correctness. These same dopes would have been the first in line to hang fraternities at U. of Va and the culture of rape on college campuses. Good grief, the McCarthyites are strong and are winning the battle. These people are cowards, it takes courage to stand up against the tide of political correctness. They don't even have a clue what's in the Indiana law (I think Cook admitted as much saying he got his information about the law from others). It's like the dopey Hollywood people chiming in on some political issue. The people have a right to do so but they look stupid doing it. I don't expect any better from these lower forms of life, however, I do expect my politicians to have a little more back bone than Mike Pence did. It's a shame a few zealots are able to bring so many people to their knees It's actually sad. Ironically, all they've done is drove the real bigots into the closet. They have changed hearts and minds they've just made them keep their mouths shut. I'd rather the idiots/bigots speak their mind and we can have a frank/honest dialogue, but I'm kind of weird about the free speech thing. I kind of think it's a nice concept even when people disagree with me.