On Aug 5, 2008, at Tue, Aug 5, 9:02 AM, Engelken, Sheri wrote: > Religious beliefs can serve as justifications for many types of > conduct that we condemn, e.g., slavery, wife-beating, concubinage, > genocide. Discrimination, be it based on race, ethnicity, gender, > sexual preference, or other irrelevant personal status, is to be > condemned. No one forces service providers to run and operate > places of public accommodation. Choosing to do so, when it flies > in the face of one's religious beliefs, is self-selected conflict. > The individual discriminated again is not in a similar "choice" > position. And telling victims of discrimination that they should > look for alternatives -- non-discriminatory service providers -- is > not a proper solution. That's reminiscent of black Americans > facing Jim Crow practices being told "we don't serve blacks here" > and having to look for and ultimately find alternative services > where such practices weren't in use. > > Service providers with discriminatory religious beliefs don't face > any restriction on their beliefs from public accommodations laws. > They're just barred from engaging in unlawful conduct, i.e., > refusing to provide a non-religious service they willingly provide > to others not in the class at issue. This isn't about whether you > have to ordain women or allow people in the class to participate in > religious activities in ways that impinge on religious beliefs. > This is about whether providers of non-religious services (public > accommodations) should be permitted to engage in the unlawful > conduct of discrimination. > > SJE > > Sheri J Engelken > Gonzaga University School of Law > PO Box 3528; 721 N Cincinnati > Spokane, WA 99220 > 509 313 5891 > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Devil's advocate: It could be counter-argued that people seeking public services aren't forced to do so, either. Why shouldn't customers be told to seek alternate services? Non-devil's advocate: I can see a few exceptions; The woman who is prescribed oral contraceptives to treat a medical condition, and the only pharmacist in the county refuses to dispense because of his religious beliefs. _______________________________________________ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
