Religious leaders attack laws that "protect religious from gay couples", call it catering to bigotry

[ck4829]

Rev. Dr. Susan Brooks Thislethwaite, Professor of Theology at Chicago Theological Seminary and Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, dismantles the claim that individual business owners like caterers and florists should be allowed to refuse services for same-sex weddings:

A religious exemption for caterers? Really? Doesn’t this expose the fundamental contradiction between “religious exemptions” and equal civil rights for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people? If you include catering, a completely contractual and voluntary arrangement to provide food services, in a “religious exemption” clause, you are just catering to bigotry instead.

Rev. Barry Lynn, ordained minister and Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, also spoke out strongly against providing religious exemptions to religious adoption agencies that receive state funding, pointing out how obviously unacceptable such an exemption would be in the case of interracial or mixed-faith couples:

Here’s a good rule of thumb: What exemptions do we allow religious groups when it comes to mixed-faith or interracial couples? A church has the legal right to refuse to perform marriages for such couples, but a government agency could not deny them access to adoption services just because a religious group doesn’t like it, and a business could not refuse to serve them.

http://equalitymatters.org/blog/201106220006

[BillStein]

1. Bravo, Rev. Brooks and Rev. Lynn nt

[Taverner]

2. If all religious leaders behaved like Professor Thislethwaite...

...the church probably wouldn't be losing 20% every year...

[Mz Pip]

3. In this economy

caterers and florists should be thnakful for the business. Weddings are good for the economy.

Besides that, caterers and florists aren't religious organizations. They are secular businesses and should behave accordingly.

[nichomachus]

4. Christian caterers?

Really? Have you ever eaten at a Christian Church. No self-respecting gay couple would serve that swill at their wedding. Give me a nice gay caterer or all go without.

And protect straight florists? Sure -- and unicorns too.