Freedoooommmm

Unless you've spent the past few weeks living under a rock, odds are good you've heard the hubbub swirling around the Religious Freedom Bill(s).

Of course, everything that I've seen throughout both the media and social media has been a repeated outrage, complete with foaming at the mouth and righteous indignation. This is the "politically correct" camp when it comes to the issue.

So it was a little bit refreshing to me when, this morning, I came across the following video which somehow manages to be both light-hearted and to the point. It was amazingly lacking all the insulting language I've seen in nearly every other opinion piece on the subject, and raised some valid points.

The comment section of this particular video on YouTube is a completely different matter - full of bickering and outright contempt. But alas, that's YouTube, it comes with the territory.

DISCLAIMER TIME:

I am not American. I don't know the exact verbiage of any of these bills, my understanding of them comes completely from news and opinion pieces, all of which seem to put a special spin on the bills themselves. My opinion does not necessarily match what the enacted bills state, but here it is:

I believe that any business at any time should be allowed to refuse service.

Any

business

at

any

time.

And for any reason.

If I go into a coffee shop and they refuse to serve me because they don't like how my face looks, that should be their right. Am I going to be happy about it? Hell no. And then what happens? I go to all my friends with my aggravation and not only does that coffee shop lose my business, but the business of my friends and acquaintances and if I'm lucky - their friends and acquaintances too.

Not the smoothest or smartest way to conduct business.

“It's now very common to hear people say, 'I'm rather offended by that.' As if that gives them certain rights. It's actually nothing more... than a whine. 'I find that offensive.' It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. 'I am offended by that.' Well, so fucking what." - Stephen Fry

I'm laughing a little bit inside at using a Stephen Fry quote on something to do with religion, but it just fits.

It's a narrative that carries on and on, more and more often these days. "I'm offended that you disagree with how I live my life." And it's the very disagreement that offends, rather than any sort of action many times.

How a gay person lives their life doesn't concern me. Whether I agree with it or not shouldn't concern them. It's all private business.

As I understand it, these bills only allow for refusal of service based on the right to not engage in an event or activity that impinges on a person's belief system. Meaning, as stated in the above video, that a baker could not legally refuse to make a birthday cake for a gay person, or a pie for after dinner, or sell them a box of cookies. But they could refuse to make a same-sex wedding cake if contributing to that sort of ceremony goes against what they believe.

Just like ostensibly a pharmacist could refuse to fill a morning after pill prescription, but still be happy to fill your prescription for antibiotics.

This.

People assume that not toeing the PC line means that a person is hostile, phobic or flat out just a bad person. This notion is nothing short of lazy. It allows for no grey area, no discussion, no reasoning things out. It assumes that because a person rejects your view, they have not even tried to understand it and have not entertained it.

There are too many dynamics to this thing to even clump it all together into one "this is good" or "this is bad" statement.

1. Political
   Is this a bill that protects citizens or does it abuse them?
   Many are being told to suck it up, if you're in business you're in business for everyone, or maybe you shouldn't BE in business if you're not willing to cater to every single request.
   Um, but hey, here's an idea, if a business doesn't want to serve you couldn't you also just, well, suck it up and take your money somewhere else?
   I mean, it seems like really a lot of people just need to suck it up right now. Like, seriously.
2. Human Rights
   Is cake a basic human right? I mean, lets face it I love cake and I sort of wish it'd be classed that way, but really, it's not. Ask any married couple whether their wedding turned out exactly the way they planned it and prepare to be amused or horrified by the stories. The caterer got sick. The flowers were wilted. The cake fell over. A drunk relative threw up on the groom.
   We are not entitled to always get what we want. And frankly, if you've got nothing better to sue over than not getting the cake you want, maybe you should count your blessings instead.
3. Business
   Again, your right to refuse service needs to be weighed out against your bottom line. If I choose to refuse service to anyone who doesn't like Spongebob Squarepants, it's quite possible my business will fail and maybe I'm in the wrong place, in the wrong business, or what have you. (Side note, I probably would refuse service to anyone who doesn't like Spongebob, cause that's just heresy)

So as stated in the video above, the Christian community has absorbed most of the backlash on this particular issue, even though it isn't only Christians that this bill protects. I realize that many will probably see it as an attack on the Muslim community, but I don't see it that way - I see it rather as a apples to apples comparison. I find many people tend to view the words "Christian" and "Religious" as interchangeable, but come on - that's just narrow. What's everything else, a cult? A fan club? 

I've seen this uproar another time in the past few years, and it was over adults-only restaurants. No, not that kind of adults-only. Restaurants who wished to exclude children, to give their guests the luxury of eating a nice quiet dinner without listening to crying babies, bickering children and the frazzled parents trying to referee them. And I said the same thing then. If you want a family restaurant, go to a family restaurant. You don't like their business model, don't support it. But for crying out loud, stop whining about it.

And while we're on the topic of children briefly, if you ever want to know what it's like to be disagreed with (sometimes loudly) on every way you live your life, try parenting.

I wonder if we will ever get to a point where we can actually just live and let live. You're gay? Fine with me. You're straight? Also a good option. Black? Super. White? Nice. Asian? Wonderful. Christian? Cool. Muslim? Good for you. If I want to request something of you that makes you uncomfortable, say no. I'll go find someone who will be thrilled to give me what I want.

Whether or not I agree with how you live your life, I can entertain the concept without agreeing. My disagreement doesn't make your lifestyle less valid. We're past kindergarten, we should be able to play nicely in the sandbox by now.