Religious Adherents Are More Dangerous Than Religious Deviants?

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) vetoed a bill that would have given citizens greater protection against being sued for using religious belief as a defense yesterday.  Why is this making national news? It stems from gay couples asking for market services such as wedding cakes, and when someone says that homosexuality is a violation of conscience, the "discriminated victims" can sue the person who refused services or get bureaucrats to go after them and potentially drive them out of business.

What we have is people choosing into a lifestyle behavior conflicting with personal religious practice, not just belief. When a wedding cake maker refuses on grounds of religion not to make a gay wedding cake, he or she is practicing their religious belief system. The homosexuals on the other hand are not necessarily practicing their religious beliefs.

The First Amendment to the US Constitution and enshrined in 50 state constitutions guarantees freedom of religious practice and freedom from harassment of government for engaging in one's religious beliefs and practice.  How are two homosexuals "harmed" by a baker not baking a gay wedding cake? They are not. They can pursue services at another bakery. Not every bakery will turn them down, especially not the big box store types.

In the end common sense would have to show actual REAL harm to the homosexual couple by anyone refusing services based on religious grounds.

For example if a gay man shows up with AIDS at an emergency room the doctor is obligated to treat the man regardless of his views on the man's sexual behavior or orientation. Refusal of medical services could render the patient seriously ill or worse dead.  That is REAL harm.

If a cake maker refuses to do gay weddings where is the real harm? Hurt egos? Oh cry me a river.  The service on its face is not even vital to society functioning, let alone two human beings contracting a relationship.

What happens when the priest, bishop or rabbi is approached and refuses because of the religious occupation or standing where they are obliged to live their religion as an act before God and not the wishes of common citizens? Do they get sued for saying no, that in fact a man or woman of the cloth is obliged to offend God before people, perhaps not even of their religious persuasion, because some couple's feelings are hurt?
It is truly a sad day when a person who is a barber, shoe maker, baker, butcher or even private attorney is forced to violate conscience of self over conscience of another.

It I go to an auto injury lawyer looking for criminal defense can I sue him for not taking my case it he chooses not to practice criminal law? Its a sad day if that attorney can be sued. I wouldn't seek him out anyway if I am charged with a crime. He would be a poor defense attorney. He chases ambulances for a living, not getting alleged criminals out of jail sentences.

If I am walking down the street with my child and I see two gay men kissing in public and I privately turn my child away from their behavior which to me personally is offensive, going to be sued or have my kid removed because the gay men were offended?

People love to compare these situations to the civil rights days. They are sadly misleading people. When a black person cannot get food, gas, a hotel room, or use a restroom due to the color of his skin, over which he has no control, real injury was possible and did happen in the Jim Crow South. You cannot control your race. You can control your behavior and lifestyle choice no matter your sexual orientation.  A gay man can choose to live a straight lifestyle and as straight man can choose to live a gay lifestyle.  It happens in reality for reasons that vary as greatly as the individuals who make those choices.

One can argue that religion is a choice. This is true. It is a choice. But most people are tied to their religious beliefs from bonds that range from generations of living a faith to their own relationship with their Maker. It goes far beyond just a choice. Homosexuality however is not handed down from generation to generation and in almost all religions is not the conduit through which a man or woman connects to the divine.

Therefore the argument falls flat on its face to equivocate homosexuality rights with religious conscience. Where does the madness end?  If someone goes into a convenience store without a shirt or shoes can they claim injury now when the sign clearly states the rules of service? Can nudists sue the clothed for being offended that the clothed will not join the nudist cause? It all sounds like madness. That is because it is madness. This is what is happening every day in cities and towns. People are demanding services that one should not be compelled to render if it violates conscience in most circumstances. Common sense dictates when conscience is subservient to mandatory service, such as saving a life of another human being, even though you may have biases that make you uneasy about who you are serving.

The First Amendment protects the religious adherent over the seekers of market services.  Should I be sued by a prostitute because I believe that behavior to be immoral and illegal because she can't charge me for refusing to have paid sex with her? It truly is a sad time we live in when the offended have greater weight than a person who means no harm and wants to give or withhold service for common sense reasons, is now the villain for just being themselves.

Next up are politicians who sue and win elections because the voters and electoral college were too stupid to see who they really wanted in office. Wait we had that one in Bush vs Gore at the Supreme Court in 2000.

Looking Forward, Looking Back

It truly has been a long time since I blogged. I figure it is time that I start up again, because its one of those things I do best.

Tonight I have had a lot of thinking going on in my brain. This is normal, but tonight has been exceptionally rare and the volume of thought very high.

I have had two of the most challenging years that I have ever had. I have been up and down, on roller coasters, hiked deserts, hiked mountains, been on islands, and floored my car out on the Bonneville Salt Flats at 110 MPH.

And it is getting late to call 2014 a New Year, but now is the beginning, not January 1.  In my associations with many people I have met those who are stuck in their past, some that are forward thinking, some who have no direction whatsoever, those in and out of trouble, the optimist and the pessimist.  Most people could be somewhere in the middle, as could I.

I remember my ex wife saying that I was always on the computer, and this is true. Now aside from the devil incarnate Facebook and work I don't do much of anything with the computer. The irony in that.

What I have learned about myself is that I seem to walk a lonely road. Not by fate or by my own design. It just seems to have been my journey in life.  Maybe its to help others, maybe its to learn some cosmic lesson. I have friends and family, but I still have walked alone.  I have been in crowded rooms and yet I might have well been there alone.

I have a good friend who is a real sweetheart, and that is because she is.  She has helped me out, when she too has walked this lonely road. I find it amazing that someone who has been through so much, still can offer a smile and a kind word.  She even has opened up to me, which I thought was an accomplishment.

The reason I bring her situation up is because she is so wanting to move forward, but being held back by her own troubles.  We all are in that boat. I know that I am. What does moving forward mean? What does living in the past mean? What does living in the present mean? What about looking forward with hope, learning from the past, but not living it, living in the present as if this were the only time to appreciate what we have?

I hope my friend somehow sees this blog entry as do others. I have another friend who has never looked back except to learn. He is like a brother to me.  I look to him to emulate the father I want to be to my children.  He is always a forward thinker, nostalgic at times, but still lives for today. He has his flaws and imperfections, yet he lives each day as a new day.  I pray that I can have that attitude for myself and of myself.

I wish that for my friend as she moves forward with so much to give and see that walls smother you, they don't help you. I have my own walls, most are not good defenses, rather obstacles to my well being.

As I begin this blog I hope to have the large readership I once did while taking it in a futuristic direction. It will be nice to build it up and see what creations come out of my mind in all its dysfunctional glory.

Its good to be back again and moving on, even with vines all over the trail that need cutting through. Its good to be alive and feel than not feel. Its good to be!