- Oct 20, 2013
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Except in housing.You cannot only advocate for the rights and liberties that you approve of. The far right and the far left are both guilty of this absurdity.
You should have the liberty to marry anyone you choose, and you should have the right to conduct business with anyone you choose, or not.
I don't agree with that last bit. I think there is a compelling state interest to prevent people from being banned from obtaining goods and services just because of who they are. OTOH, I am not convinced this needs to be all encompassing. I can certainly see that a grocery store should not be allowed to discriminate, or an apartment complex..., but a flower arranger? There should be some rational line if you are going to decide one person's rights are more important than another person's rights. This is not a one sided issue.
A right or a Liberty doesn't depend on whether someone agrees or approves.
A private business should have the right to serve anyone they want to or not to serve them. They should have that right but they also have to suffer the consequences of their decisions. That includes boycotts and loss of business. Certainly they should have the right to not be forced to operate in a manner that conflicts with their religion.
No. I don't think so. A business opens its doors to the public and accepts the benefits of the community in doing so. It gets police and fire protection, which is paid for out of public coffers paid by everyone - not just the people it wants to do business with. It takes advantage of public roads, water, sewer and power. It derives its business from the community and owes a duty back to the community. If it wants to confine its business to a select group, then it needs to be a private club. Otherwise, open to the public means exactly that.
Bull shit. That is no different than the individual. The owners get those benefits wether they own a business or not.
One does not have a right to another person's life or time or effort. Otherwise why would they have to pay for something they have a right to.
In a free country, a business owner has the right to refuse to do business with anyone.