Over the past few days Indiana
Governor Mike Pence has been under fire from the LGBT community for signing the
Religious Freedoms Restoration Act that is designed to protect a business owner
from being forced to act against one's own religious tenets. The LGBT community
points the example of a bakery refusing to make a wedding cake for a gay
marriage. The law has many people in a tizzy, and the Governor says the law
which is based on existing Federal law will not go away. Meanwhile, some have
called for a boycott of the entire state of Indiana.
Boycott Watch believes we need to examine the case from
all sides without the emotional aspect. That is because regardless of where you
may stand on the gay marriage issue, the fact is Americans boycotting any state
is America boycotting itself, which is a ridiculous action comparable to people
boycotting their own nose.
Boycott Watch wrote
about a similar situation April 29, 2010 in an article titled
Arizona Boycott is bad
for America. We summarized that article with "Boycott sets dangerous
precedent - violates sovereignty, Sets up war between states" and the same
applied here.
Boycott Watch reminds people that
this law works both ways. It would also inherently protect an LGBT congregation
if it wants to deny, for example, the Westboro Baptist Church from having an
event in an LGBT facility under the same legal grounds. We have even seen a
cartoon at Comically Incorrect
which depicted two Klansmen asking a black baker to make their wedding cake.
The fact is, if someone does not want your
business, why would you even want to force them to take it? Boycott Watch
President Fred Taub said "Consumers have the right to say no and boycott, and
businesses are no different."
Boycott Watch
believes than consumers have choices and should exercise them. Not every
business will do everything. A kosher butcher should never be required to sell
pork, and just the same, a vegetarian restaurant should never be forced to sell
beef. What we have here is a case where the LGBT community is gathering to
force a change because they do not like the fact that people have choices, but
the demands of reversal of the law can have a serious backlash.
Boycott Watch points out that the United States was
built on religious freedoms. Everyone should be allowed to practice their own
religion and nobody should tell anyone how to practice theirs. Just as a Jewish
bakery should never be forced to write "Allahu Akbar" (Allah is Great in
Arabic) on a cake, an atheist should never be forced to write "Jesus is my
redeemer" on a cake, just as someone who is religiously opposed to gay marriage
should not be forced to make that cake either. Besides, why would anyone want
to give money to people who don't like you?
It is
simply un-American and selfish to force anyone to partake in a religious
activity they disagree with, regardless of the sides of the parties involved.
Also, this boycott is collective punishment, something that happens under
tyranny, not a democracy. We all need to respect the rights and religious
beliefs of other if we want others to respect ours. As such, Boycott Watch
believes this boycott call can only be described with one word - Intolerant.
What we really need is to be more tolerant of each other. After all, that is
the message of all civil rights organizations. |
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