Benjamin, I look forward to the time when you are refused a service. Maybe you'll line up to get on a plane and then be told you can't get on, or you can't sit next to your wife, because it conflicts with the pilot's religious views. Or maybe you'll have to sit on separate tables to your wife or friends when you go to a restaurant, because in the waiter's view you are the devil incarnate. Or perhaps you won't be able to get your car fixed, or buy groceries from your favourite store, because the owner thinks you're an evil little goblin. I trust you'll take it all in good humour, however inconvenient or humilating it might be for you and your family and friends, and be thankful that we live in a world that tolerates superstitious bigots.
There has been a demonstrable move away from Judeo-Christian faith and practice in Europe for a number of years. Just ask British hoteliers Peter and Hazelmary Bull.
What was once respected as authoritative is now considered Victorian, and what was widely embraced as a moral guide has been dismissed with the morals in which it guided people…all in the name of tolerance, mind you.
And so the Bulls have experienced the irony of ironies that Christianity is being forced out of the room by those who claim tolerance as their guiding principle.
They used to be poked fun at...
1. The person who insists that they have a "right" to be accommodated by someone who does not want that associations, or
2. The person who exercises their "right" not to associate or accommodate someone with whom they have disagreements?
Freedom means that I am free from coercive acts by government to force me to do something against my will, when my will does not involve coercion of someone else. I.e. - I am free ONLY if I am able to act on my own beliefs and conscience, using my property as I desire, as long as I do not force someone else to violate their conscience or infringe on their (cont.)
property. If you do not agree with "my" position that I will uphold my Christin beliefs and not rent a room to an unmarried couple or homosexual couple, do you not violate your own conscience by wanting associate with me? Isn't your action - forcing me to rent to you - an act of aggression by you against my beliefs, conscience, and property rights? If I am a "bigot", do I not just harm myself and my potential income if I discriminate against you for whatever reason? You have other options, so you are not harmed.
When the government forces me to violate my conscience, then I have no other options except to leave the country. Ask the Puritans about that. You might have heard about them in school.
Freedom is not Force
In other words, let the free market work, and let individuals live and do business according to their own consciences.
And contrary to what Benjamin is arguing, there is no intolerance of Christians in this scenario. If a hotel owner (be they Christian or anything else) is obliged to provide a room to an unmarried couple, in no way does it impact on the lifestyle or beliefs of the hotel owner. But if members of minority groups are refused the same services as everyone else, it will have a signifcant impact on them.
This is about people in positions of power over others discriminating against them for personal reasons. Maybe the stewardess can't display a cross as a representative of the airline, but any passenger can. It's not where I would draw the line, but at least I can that the issue has consistently been restrictions on providers of services, not on their customers.