For the bathroom thing, I think it’s like the Republican Voter ID laws, set to fix a problem that doesn’t exist.
I think we are on the same page then on bathrooms.
There is no problem if we already have male and female restrooms, so the law is not necessary.
On the other hand, I do understand the people of NC are taking a preemptive action to prevent some insanity as has happened in other states.
For requiring businesses open to the public to serve gay people, I find some guidance in the parable of the Good Samaritan. The innkeeper did not refuse the business of the Samaritan. Personally, I see no reason morally why baking a cake is objectionable and it seems to me that the refusal does more harm than good as ostracizing a segment of the society.
I would tend to agree. Now we are talking about retail services, privately owned businesses, comparative beliefs and weighing the validity, applicability, the consequences, all that.
If I was asked by a bachelor party to bake a giant cake-phallus, (don’t laugh it happens) I should have my beliefs and sensibilities respected. I should be allowed to decline this business. Go to the baker down the street who has no reservations about baking you a porn-cake.
A more likely scenario will be the demand for use of Church facilities for unions that violate the Church’s beliefs. It will happen. Again, you can go to the church down the street who does not object to a gay union.
These things are not the same as denying a black person a loan, or a meal, at a public establishment. That’s a denial of basic human resources based on an intrinsic human trait.
It’s a lie, isn’t it? You claim a black person is inferior intrinsically because they are black, and so do not deserve basic services. You ask society to accept your lie. Not all lies are negative in nature. In other words, the above scenario attempts to rob a person of humanity by denying their humanity. In the case of gender confusion, the lie proposes something additional that is contrary to basic human realities.
Here’s the point of the passage I quoted:
Deception robs the person, and society in general, of freedom and human dignity. *A lie in one area robs every single human being of his/her humanity. * And helps push human dignity down the slippery slope. The history of genocide and racism makes this self evident. A lie that is accepted is disastrous for everyone, as human rights become quicksand .
For gay marriage, I think people must find their own way. Too many children were raised by bad parents and ended up gay. I’d rather they not pretend otherwise and ruin the lives of straight people.
Not sure what your point is here. No child should be raised in a bad home. But I certainly don’t agree with you that a tough home makes a person “end up gay”.
But I am not inflexible on these issues and am interested in your views as to better help my thinking on these matters.