The “pure” libertarian in me (and note the small “l”) and one who supports individual liberty says that a private business owner should be able to choose who they provide services to or not; or who they sell their wares to or not; or who to hire or not hire for employment; and for whatever reason what so ever and without any government interference.
Sounds good doesn’t it? Perhaps in principle. But practice, in reality, sometimes not so much – and it might all depend on if you are the one choosing to discriminate or if you are the one being discriminated against.
One has to understand that in that scenario, of discrimination based on religious or political beliefs or personal prejudices - “sometimes you’re the windshield, and sometimes you’re the bug”.
I get that a conservative Christian business owner would not want to provide services to a gay couple for a gay marriage ceremony – forced to bake the cake, forced to take the photographs, forced to DJ or perform the music, forced to produce the wedding invitations and I would say that in principle that they shouldn’t be forced to do so. No one should be forced to go against their deeply held religious or other convictions.
And I also get how it would be offensive for example to force, for example a Jewish baker (and I suspect many others) to be forced to decorate a cake for a “Happy Birth Adolph Hitler” celebration. I sure wouldn’t want to be forced to do that and I am neither Jewish or a Christian.
But let’s say a Christian couple goes to a very popular baker in town for a very traditional wedding cake with the traditional bride and groom topping and perhaps also a traditional Bible verse or “Marriage Is Only Ordained By God” written on it and the baker who is an Atheist tells them, “I just don’t do that sort of traditional type of wedding cake and I won’t decorate it with any Bible verses because I don’t believe in God”.
Conversely let’s say I’m a devout Evangelical Christian baker and a Catholic or a Mormon or a Muslim or a 7th Day Adventist or an Atheist couple wants me to bake their wedding cake and I refuse because I think Catholicism and Mormonism and Islam and 7th Day Adventists are all “cults” and that Atheists shouldn’t be allowed to get married.
Let’s say that I am a politically conservative owner of a bakery and one day a member of a BLM group wants me to bake a cake with the slogan “Black Lives Matter” or an another group wants me to bake a cake decorated with “Trump Is Not My President” on it.
Let’s say I am a politically liberal owner of a bakery and one day a Trump supporter wants me to bake a cake with a “TRUMP WON! MAGA! Suck It Up Libs!” with a Pepe The Frog on it.
Let’s say I’m a young attractive single woman and my car breaks down. I get on my smart phone and find a towing company and call them. The tow truck operator shows up and he is a devout Muslim and refuses to tow my car because 1) I’m a single woman driving a car and or driving without a male relative and 2) I’m wearing a skimpy bikini top and very short shorts and he finds this manner of dress offensive to his religious beliefs and after showing up refuses to tow my car.
Let’s say that I’m a very conservative Christian tow truck operator who is likewise offended by her clothing or lack thereof and also the “Hillary For President” and “NARAL” and a “Darwin Fish” bumper sticker on her car and after showing up refuses to tow her car.
Let’s say I’m a Conservative Orthodox Jew who runs a kosher catering company and I get a call to cater an event, provide kosher foods for a Messianic Jewish group and I refuse based on my belief that these people are not really Jews and are making a mockery of “real” Judaism.
Let’s say I own a printing/calligraphy shop and I’m a Wiccan/Pagan and one day a Christian comes in and wants me to produce flyers for her church group that says Halloween is Evil and Pagan, should be banned/outlawed and has no place in America and people who celebrate any Pagan holidays are going straight to Hell!
Let’s say I own an Evangelical Christian Book and Gift store and a Catholic priest walks in one day looking for a gift or a book for the child of a friend or relative and I refuse to serve him because perhaps I think that all Catholic priests are pedophiles.
Let’s say I own a coffee shop and I am an animal rights activist and am also anti-gun and I don’t allow people who wear camo style or hunting type clothing to come in and I put a sign on my door that says that guns (open or CC even if allowed by law) or knives are not allowed in my shop.
Let’s say that I am a gay person who owns an architectural/interior design firm and I’m looking to hire someone for a job and I receive a resume from someone who attended a very conservative Christian college that teaches that homosexuality is a sin that should be a punishable crime and advocated conversion therapy and all her prior work experience has been working for Christian organizations with the same POV and although she seems otherwise qualified for the job, I refuse to hire her because I just don’t think she would be a good fit for my company where I and many other gays are working.
Likewise, let’s say I am a devout Christian and the owner of a company where I and nearly all the employees are also Christians and I pass on an applicant who is otherwise very qualified for the job but previously worked for an Atheist org and she comes to her interview with purple hair and with many tattoos and piercings and wearing a Pentagram neckless and I don’t think she would be a good fit.
Let’s say that own a home improvement company and either because of my religious beliefs or just my personal prejudices, I don’t believe in “mixed marriages” and one day I go to the home of a white woman married to a black man or visa versa, who are wanting to get a quote from me to build a new deck on their house and I either refuse to give them a quote or I try to gouge them on the price or do a lousy job because I don’t like their mixed marriage and their “mulatto” children.
Let’s say that I’m an Evangelical Christian belonging to one of those prosperity mega churches and I own a law firm or an insurance brokerage firm. While my business is not a religious org and is not advertised as only serving only the “Christian” community and I don’t hire based on a religious litmus test, I hand out to all employees copies of Joel Osteen’s latest book which I strongly “encourage” everyone to read in their “spare time”, and every morning before work I hold and lead prayer meetings and at lunchtime, a Christian book or Bible study group which are not “mandatory”. However, I do make note of who attends and who doesn’t, who belongs to my church and who doesn’t and those who do not participate just don’t get the same promotion opportunities or the same raises or fair performance evaluations as those who do. (FWIW, I once for a short time, worked at a law firm that did exactly that and had a friend who worked at an insurance brokerage firm that did the same).
Let’s say that I own an apartment complex and I choose not to rent to Blacks, Latinos, Asians and single people who in my “judgement” “might” be gay, or rent to someone with a physical disability such as a blind person or a couple with a child who has Downs Syndrome.
Suppose I go into an upscale clothing and jewelry store and am told by the owner that I can’t shop there because I’m too fat and not attractive enough to be one of their customers.
I have, and was born with natural red hair. Suppose I walk into a small hair studio one day and the owner/hair dresser tells me that she believes that “gingers” have no soul and are “evil”. I’d probably laugh it off as a joke (hopefully) or if not, I’d go somewhere else to get my hair done, I doubt I would sue.
My point is that if you believe that a business owner has the right to discriminate based on their religious or political or any other beliefs or at their whim and that the government should not interfere what so ever with their decisions, and I’m not saying that perhaps they shouldn’t be able to, then also don’t complain when you are on the receiving end of the discrimination.
In a perfect world where people use common sense, the government would stay completely out of as far as privately owned business go and not enforce rules against some belief systems and not against others and let the free market decide.
I also tend to believe that a business that does not discriminate and provides quality goods and services to all paying customers and hires the best, brightest and most qualified people regardless of their race, orientation, religion, political views, etc., assuming that they and their employees also don’t discriminate or force their POV on others, is in a free market, likely going to be the most successful over time.
FWIW, personally, I wouldn’t patronize any business that had a sign on their business door saying – “Gays Not Welcome Here”, “Blacks Not Welcome Here”, We Don’t Serve White People”, “Only Real Christians Are Welcomed Here” or “We Don’t Serve Christians” or “We Don’t Serve Conservatives or Liberals”or ….
But also imagine what would happen, what our society would be like (and was like not so long ago) if any business that publicly advertises for services and for customers, could also arbitrarily discriminate against you based on your race, ethnicity, religion, etc….or at their whim.
As I said, in that scenario, “sometimes you’re the windshield, and sometimes you’re the bug” and nobody really wants to be the bug.
