I’m opening a bakery and anyone that drinks coffee will not be served, as coffee is morally wrong. Also, I’ll serve white people, but only if they’re actually white, so make sure you bring your family history chart. All other races are fine, but no psuedo-white people. They must have English blood or they’re not really white — they’re just posers. But, if they’re English and drink tea, then they won’t be served, because tea is also morally wrong. They can buy cupcakes, but no wedding cakes. That way, I’m not really being biased.
Sound ridiculous? Well, it is! Yet this is exactly how America is currently allowing bigotry towards people just for being born.
There are those that say the invisible hand of the free market would put a store like this out of business. Not true. I’d stay in business. I use to work at a bookstore that sold to members of the homeschooling community. It wasn’t our main focus, just a tie in. Customers wanting to keep their white kids straight and “pure” kept the store afloat in the fall. We had to stop selling the homeschooling items because they chased our original base of customers away.
Unfortunately, it seems that we’ve once again become a nation of bigots that doesn’t think we’re prejudiced. Yet human bias against our fellow citizens is the reason why we have anti-discrimination laws in the first place. Conservatives in this country are pushing to get rid of those laws, and when they’re gone, businesses will still be fine — but the oppressed will be far worse off than they are now, and they’re not doing good as it is.
The problem is that many minorities don’t have the financial resources to stand up for their rights or buy politicians that will create laws to protect them. In a nation where white has made right for generations, we have a system set against women, people of color, the LQBTQ community, and any other minority one can think of. And, as the 2016 election has proven, this country isn’t facing a bigot drought any time soon.
You’ll notice though that we didn’t ban the bigots at the bookstore — we simply stopped selling what they came in to buy. Why? Because that’s the legal way to do it. We didn’t discriminate. If they wanted to come in and buy books about how Jews and Native Americans are God’s chosen people, they were welcome. But of course they didn’t want to do that. Bakers, t-shirt makers, etc are free to do the same. Sell to all or to none. That’s how it works, or how is should work in a Christian nation.
As Paul said to the Galatians:
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”
-Galatians 3:38
I would add the LGBTQ community to this list as well. For us to be a Christian nation we must accept all, even as Christ accepts all. Telling someone your business will not sell to them for any reason is a refusal of service.
To be fair, there are legitimate reasons to refuse service. If a customer is threatening themselves or someone in the store, if they are making outrageous demands, etc. Legitimate reasons aren’t cherry picking — they’re blanket reasons every sane person can get behind. These individuals can still think homosexuals are evil (just like they think other people are evil), but they cannot pick and choose which “evil people” they can and cannot serve, provided these people are not breaking any laws. The hypocrisy of bigotry is okay in one form, but not in another.
The idea of not making a wedding cake because the customers are a same-sex couple doesn’t fit this description. Why? because of the echo it leaves leaves in its wake. Does this mindset give the right to sandwich artists at Subway to refuse to make subs for black people? Yes, as long as these artists refuse on the “moral” grounds that black people are subhuman. If one can refuse service due to one type of bigotry, why not another? I’ve met white supremacists that hold the religious belief that blacks aren’t people — serving them is like serving an animal that’s smart enough to speak English, like a parrot. I’ve met white supremacists that believe blacks are born without souls or that they’re the children of demons. Do we respect their religions beliefs?
Speaking of religious beliefs, what about bias of other religions? Some Muslims might not be okay with many Americans, but I guarantee the moment someone doesn’t make a cake for a Protestant wedding all hell will break loose over at Fox News. If a company is open for business they should sell to all or none. It’s simply wrong to say no to people for living their lives in a way that doesn’t harm anyone.
Being gay isn’t a choice and wanting someone to stay single for their whole lives just because these “artists” think they are “sinners” is simply wrong. It’s a cake! It’s t-shirts! They’re not being asked to film a gay porno or sculpt nude sculptures. They are drawing a line in the sand on where they think good people are and bad people are based on genetics, not reason or law. Why is it wrong if they’re black, but okay if they’re gay? It’s not a slippery slope anymore — it’s a blueprint.