Re:PayPal Withdraws Plan for Charlotte Expansion
by zeveb on Tuesday April 05, 2016 @05:16PM
(#11434544)
> There's no meaningful line you can draw between "I don't sell cake to gay people" and "I don't sell cake to black people". Both are explicitly illegal in most places and morally reprehensible in all.
I agree that both are morally reprehensible.
Can you see the difference between refusing to bake a cake for a gay customer and refusing to bake a cake with the message, 'congratulations to Tim & Steve on their wedding'? The first is about people; the second is about speech. I can live with protecting people; I cannot tolerate compelling speech.
First, that case law was settled over 50 years ago when we ruled segregation illegal. Contrary to your wishes, that ship has sailed.
Second, businesses are permitted to serve the public and subject to lots of laws. You can't say "I don't want to comply with the health code, and it's unfair that the government is using violent force to make me wash my oven!" Similarly, all three branches of government have definitively ruled that you can't refuse to do business with someone based on their attributes (race, gender, religion, etc.). There's no meaningful line you can draw between "I don't sell cake to gay people" and "I don't sell cake to black people". Both are explicitly illegal in most places and morally reprehensible in all.