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Saturday, April 16, 2016

Another Simple Question

Is it proper for someone to refuse to do business with an individual or group because the first person disagrees with their beliefs or practices?  Think about that.  What's your response?  Must people be forced to do business with those with whom they disagree on moral and religious grounds?

This is not a simple question.  Let's give it some context.  Is it proper for Cirque Du Soleil to cancel its performances in North Carolina because the people of that state passed a law requiring same sex bathrooms and barring transgenders from using the bathroom with which they identify?  I'll be that's not the example you expected to see.  Normally, the example used is the bakery that does not want to make a wedding cake for the gay couple planning their marriage.  But it's the same thing.  The bakery doesn't want to participate in a ceremony that the owners of the bakery find immoral.  The owners of the Cirque Du Soleil don't want to put on their show in a state that bars bathroom switching by transgenders.

Strangely, no one seems ever to notice that this is the same thing.  The mainstream media castigates the bakery for refusing to do business with the gay couple on moral grounds.  The same media congratulates the Cirque Du Soleil for refusing to do business with the people of North Carolina on moral grounds.  The truth is that the refusal of both is either proper or not.  There is no logical difference.  Otherwise, the only conclusion one can draw from the media conduct is that the ends justify the means, and that really is never the case.

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