I like a man who grins when he fights.
Winston Churchill
Image of the Day
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| Via Independent Institute |
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| Via Adam Smith Institute |
Communism and Its Varieties
RFRA, the States, Bad Elephants, and Religious Liberty
One of my nephews will be married early next month. He asked me if I preferred chicken, salmon or vegetarian pasta (if you've read my nutrition blog, you can probably guess my response. Hint: I eat a lot of oily fish). Not on the menu: pizza. Now I haven't been to a wedding in years, but of the weddings I've been invited to, not one reception dinner included pizza. I've never heard of anyone serving pizza at a reception, but maybe I live a sheltered life, going to mostly relatives' weddings. If and when I ever get married, no pizza--but I'm a low-carb guy.When I heard the furor over a small-town Indiana pizzeria saying they wouldn't cater to gay weddings, I had to roll my eyes. It apparently resulted from a hypothetical from a news report, and it sparked an instant reaction from the political correctness fascists who always overplay their hands. At last mention, Memories Pizza has raised nearly a million by sympathetic supporters, not unlike the reaction to the leftist assault on Chick Fil A which resulted in the chain's unusual high sales in response to a boycott.
I've made it very clear that the attacks on photographers or bakeries who do not want to specialize in events, including "gay weddings", are unconscionable. Reason's Nick Gillespie points out that the cases have been pretty stupid; for example, the bakeries in question did not have a blanket policy against selling to gays. Second, there are lots of businesses eager to cater to the wishes of gay couples. I'm sure a number of pizzerias would be willing to take an order for 50 pies, no questions asked. Why would you want to force a business which doesn't want your business to book a profit at your expense?
RFRA is NOT a blank check to engage in discriminatory behavior. I don't see a gay couple breaking up because one vendor didn't want to do business with them. But the correct decision is to let the free market work, not empower the State and its corrupt jurists, commissions and bureaucracies. If the LGBT community doesn't want to do business with vendors that don't want to cater special events, they have the right of free association. They need to respect the rights of others, not sharing their point of view, to do the same.
Finally, I suggest Gov. Hutchinson (R-AR) and Gov. Pence (R-IN), in their spineless response to the threats of politically correct fascists to boycott their states, grow a pair.They are my latest nominees for Bad Elephant of the Year.
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of the original artist via Reason |
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| Courtesy of Gary Varvel via Townhall |
John Denver, "Back Home Again"
