Houston landscapers refuse gay couple’s job

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This is a very interesting article. It brings up an good question about whether a small business has a right to refuse to cater to a specific demographic group, based on sexual orientation. Unfortunately, the response of some gay people, with threats of death and sodomization of this couple and their children, doesn’t endear them to me.

Link to article

Link to Garden Guy website

Should homosexuals be included in anti-discrimination laws? What if this was a Jewish couple and they refused to do business with them, citing that as a reason in an email? As much as I sympathize with the landscaping company, it does bring up an interesting ethical point for discussion. I have mixed feelings about this article.
 
Good for the Garden Guy:thumbsup: …he is standing up for his beliefs:thumbsup: …shame that the people running this country dont do the same!
 
Thanks for the link to the article and the website. I sent them a note of encouragement, and I voted “yes” on the survey.
 
I refuse to do tax returns for people who work in the abortion industry. So far nothing has ever come of it but i have great empathy for the Garden Guy-sticking up for your beliefs can cost you sometimes.
 
An owner should be able to choose who they deal with.

If I am selling a napkin, I should be allowed to sell the napkin to whoever I choose; for better or for worse.
 
I don’t know about that one. If you open yourself publicly through advertising that is rough through something that is as impersonal as landscaping. I know as an attorney in Massachusetts, you don’t have to represent anyone you don’t have to. But you can not mislead anyone regarding the law. It would be hard to be a zealous advocate for your client due to the personal situation and relationship between attorney and client, if you disagree with them as a matter of conscious. Yet one can’t lie to them at all, if they have a claim to a case or have valid defenses one knows of a lawyer have to inform them, and then properly find representation for them through a bar association.
 
Why did the couple send such an email in the first place? What purpose does it serve to step unto a hornet’s nest needlessly? How would a simple landscaping contract have compromised their faith? The couple suffering from same-sex attraction wanted some landscaping done. It isn’t as if they wanted a printer to print morally objectionable material or to perform a mock wedding on church grounds as happened in British Columbia. Yes, in Canada there are laws against such discrimination and there most certainly would be a lawsuit should anyone dare to flaunt them.

Christians must strive to act with gentleness, kindness and prudence especially since such conduct reflects poorly on the entire community of faithful. Would they have felt the same moral indignation and refused to work with a couple who were divorced and living in an adulterous relationship? It is doubtful.

I like to remind myself that we are all like angels walking this earth with tarnished wings. Let’s not intentionally stomp on our neighbour’s wings rather seek to polish and mend them for one another so that we may co-exist with a modicum of grace.
 
Rosalinda, that was a very thoughtful reply. I couldn’t agree more. 👍
 
Rosalinda said:
Why did the couple send such an email in the first place? What purpose does it serve to step unto a hornet’s nest needlessly? How would a simple landscaping contract have compromised their faith? The couple suffering from same-sex attraction wanted some landscaping done. It isn’t as if they wanted a printer to print morally objectionable material or to perform a mock wedding on church grounds as happened in British Columbia. Yes, in Canada there are laws against such discrimination and there most certainly would be a lawsuit should anyone dare to flaunt them.

Christians must strive to act with gentleness, kindness and prudence especially since such conduct reflects poorly on the entire community of faithful. Would they have felt the same moral indignation and refused to work with a couple who were divorced and living in an adulterous relationship? It is doubtful.

I like to remind myself that we are all like angels walking this earth with tarnished wings. Let’s not intentionally stomp on our neighbour’s wings rather seek to polish and mend them for one another so that we may co-exist with a modicum of grace.
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I think your post sums up my misgivings. The reaction from some gay people, though, caused them to entirely lose the moral high ground in this story. But, I wonder what purpose the wife thought was served by sending such an email. And I wonder what moral compromise there would be in serving the landscaping needs of a gay couple. Do these landscapers check into the private lives of every client they bid on?
 
Would it be my perogative, if I ran a business, to refuse business to Catholics because I disagreed with their religious beliefs?
 
This is a civil rights argument and I think we have been down this road before.
You certainly have a right to commune with whomever you please. But you don’t have the right to discriminate in the public arena. If you are offering a service to the public, then you are in the public arena must serve all who approach your doorstep.

This is where the rubber meets the road. Rosalinda is correct in her analysis that as Christians and civilized humans, we must recognize that not everyone follows the cross. Bringing them to the cross, however, is the greater mission and one that should be the focus of Catholics in particular.
 
No… they should not be included in anti-discrimination laws IMO. They are part of the Culture of Death and thier sinful lifestyle should not be supported.
WenckebachCath said:
This is a very interesting article. It brings up an good question about whether a small business has a right to refuse to cater to a specific demographic group, based on sexual orientation. Unfortunately, the response of some gay people, with threats of death and sodomization of this couple and their children, doesn’t endear them to me.

Link to article

Link to Garden Guy website

Should homosexuals be included in anti-discrimination laws? What if this was a Jewish couple and they refused to do business with them, citing that as a reason in an email? As much as I sympathize with the landscaping company, it does bring up an interesting ethical point for discussion. I have mixed feelings about this article.
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Jeffrey, maybe you would like to don a white sheet and hood and light a burning cross. You don’t have the right to condemn anyone’s lifestyle as long as they don’t impinge on yours. Black, white, gay or straight, it simply is none of your business.
The Church does not condone homosexuality which is all you should be concerned with. What others do or don’t do, is outside your purview.
The LAW states that the general public cannot discriminate. That includes you.
 
Corki said:
Yes, and many small businesses do.
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No. You cannot. Especially in Houston. If a business emailed an African American couple and declined to bid because they do not serve Negros, I think this would be actionable. Religion, like race, is also a protected catagory under the various state and federal civil rights laws. And this business made it a point to decline the business of the couple rather than just not bidding or ignoring the bid request.

Remember, many small businesses in the south, including Houston, were segregated. Back doors were the “Negro doors.” Laws made all these private business integrate. And all civil rights laws include religion as a protected class.

Interesting point. Religion is not an integral characteristic like race. An African American is born an African American. But religion is a choice. Suppose the Garden Guy declined a bid from a Wiccan couple because, as devout Christians, the business owners did not wish to have semi-devil worshipers as customers. But if the Wiccan couple converted to the owners’ brand of Christianity, Garden Guy would certainly bid for the couple’s business.

No problem, correct? Religion is a choice and if the couple converted, there will be no discrimination.

Yes, problem according to civil rights laws – with the support of all major faiths in the US. Because all faiths have an issue with religious discrimination. If devout Protestant Chrisitians can decline Wiccans as customers, they can also decline Catholics. And Catholic business owners could refuse Baptists service. So politically, all faiths in the US support civil rights laws outlawing most religious discrimination.

Yes, religion is a choice. Millions convert from one faith to another every decade. Sexual orientation is not a choice. From a secular legal perspective – if it is legal to refuse gay men as customers because of their immoral choice, why can’t Garden Guy refuse sinful customers who worship a false god. Or God in a false way? All the customers have to do is convert. Correct?
 
Homosexuality is a choice. Ppl are not born that way. When ppl decide or turn gay thier skin color does not change. There should be no lawsuit IMO.
MikeinSD said:
No. You cannot. Especially in Houston. If a business emailed an African American couple and declined to bid because they do not serve Negros, I think this would be actionable. Religion, like race, is also a protected catagory under the various state and federal civil rights laws. And this business made it a point to decline the business of the couple rather than just not bidding or ignoring the bid request.

Remember, many small businesses in the south, including Houston, were segregated. Back doors were the “Negro doors.” Laws made all these private business integrate. And all civil rights laws include religion as a protected class.

Interesting point. Religion is not an integral characteristic like race. An African American is born an African American. But religion is a choice. Suppose the Garden Guy declined a bid from a Wiccan couple because, as devout Christians, the business owners did not wish to have semi-devil worshipers as customers. But if the Wiccan couple converted to the owners’ brand of Christianity, Garden Guy would certainly bid for the couple’s business.

No problem, correct? Religion is a choice and if the couple converted, there will be no discrimination.

Yes, problem according to civil rights laws – with the support of all major faiths in the US. Because all faiths have an issue with religious discrimination. If devout Protestant Chrisitians can decline Wiccans as customers, they can also decline Catholics. And Catholic business owners could refuse Baptists service. So politically, all faiths in the US support civil rights laws outlawing most religious discrimination.

Yes, religion is a choice. Millions convert from one faith to another every decade. Sexual orientation is not a choice. From a secular legal perspective – if it is legal to refuse gay men as customers because of their immoral choice, why can’t Garden Guy refuse sinful customers who worship a false god. Or God in a false way? All the customers have to do is convert. Correct?
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MikeinSD said:
No. You cannot. Especially in Houston. If a business emailed an African American couple and declined to bid because they do not serve Negros, I think this would be actionable. Religion, like race, is also a protected catagory under the various state and federal civil rights laws. And this business made it a point to decline the business of the couple rather than just not bidding or ignoring the bid request.

Remember, many small businesses in the south, including Houston, were segregated. Back doors were the “Negro doors.” Laws made all these private business integrate. And all civil rights laws include religion as a protected class.

Interesting point. Religion is not an integral characteristic like race. An African American is born an African American. But religion is a choice. Suppose the Garden Guy declined a bid from a Wiccan couple because, as devout Christians, the business owners did not wish to have semi-devil worshipers as customers. But if the Wiccan couple converted to the owners’ brand of Christianity, Garden Guy would certainly bid for the couple’s business.

No problem, correct? Religion is a choice and if the couple converted, there will be no discrimination.

Yes, problem according to civil rights laws – with the support of all major faiths in the US. Because all faiths have an issue with religious discrimination. If devout Protestant Chrisitians can decline Wiccans as customers, they can also decline Catholics. And Catholic business owners could refuse Baptists service. So politically, all faiths in the US support civil rights laws outlawing most religious discrimination.

Yes, religion is a choice. Millions convert from one faith to another every decade. Sexual orientation is not a choice. From a secular legal perspective – if it is legal to refuse gay men as customers because of their immoral choice, why can’t Garden Guy refuse sinful customers who worship a false god. Or God in a false way? All the customers have to do is convert. Correct?
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MikeinSD,

I don’t think I could agree with you less. Personally I believe if someone spends his time and money he should be able to hire and deal with whomever he wants. And if there are laws against that (which I assume there are considering todays SP culture) it doesn’t change my opinion.

I don’t agree with racial discrimination, or religious discrimination (to a certain extent because I wouldn’t work with wiccans), but I believe that for the most part a business should have the choice. If a business told me they wouldn’t hire me because I was of a certain ethnicity or creed I don’t see why there should be a lawsuit. I’d rather have a boycott.

And as for Homosexuality not being a choice I’m still waiting for that empirical evidence.

Catholig
 
Catholig said:
MikeinSD,

I don’t think I could agree with you less. Personally I believe if someone spends his time and money he should be able to hire and deal with whomever he wants. And if there are laws against that (which I assume there are considering todays SP culture) it doesn’t change my opinion.

I don’t agree with racial discrimination, or religious discrimination (to a certain extent because I wouldn’t work with wiccans), but I believe that for the most part a business should have the choice. If a business told me they wouldn’t hire me because I was of a certain ethnicity or creed I don’t see why there should be a lawsuit. I’d rather have a boycott.

And as for Homosexuality not being a choice I’m still waiting for that empirical evidence.

Catholig
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Why do you disagree with religious discrimination if religion is a choice like homosexuality?

If a business did not want to serve or hire you because of yr faith, it easy enough to change religions. So why should you boycott or otherwise harrass a business who did not want people like you if you can just convert? Easy enough to do.

Religion is a choice. Just like homosexuality. Correct?
 
Anyone listen to Dennis Prager? He tackled this one last week.
 
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