"The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and be willing to bear the expenses of it. There should not be a district of one mile square, without a school in it, not founded by a charitable individual, but maintained at the public expense of the people themselves." -- John Adams

"No money shall be drawn from the treasury, for the benefit of any religious or theological institution." -- Indiana Constitution Article 1, Section 6.

"...no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish enlarge, or affect their civil capacities." – Thomas Jefferson

Monday, June 25, 2018

Hey, we could use some consistency, here!

ANOTHER MEAL INTERRUPTED

President 45's press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, was asked to leave a restaurant specifically because of her work in the current administration. According to a Sanders tweet, which the former head of the U.S. Government Ethics office called a violation of federal ethics law, the owner of the restaurant asked her to leave.
The New York Times reported,
The encounter is the third time this past week in which a Trump administration official was confronted over his or her political stance.
In my opinion, however, this incident was different from the other two.

Kirstjen Nielsen, the Secretary of Homeland Security, left a mexican restaurant after being heckled by protestors against the zero tolerance immigrant policy. White House senior advisor Stephen Miller's dinner was disrupted (also at a mexican restaurant), by protesters calling him a fascist for his part in the current administration's immigrant policies.

Nielsen and Miller were verbally attacked for their participation in what many believe is a policy lacking in basic humanity, which separates families, and punishes people seeking asylum in the U.S.

The incident with Sanders, however, seems to be different. She was asked to leave by the owner of the restaurant while Nielsen and Miller were not.

CONSISTENCY?

Here's a Yelp review...from the New York Times...
“Pathetic,” the next review read. “How dare you use politics to discriminate. Seems you will be the actual loser in this case, once the reviews really sink in. Good luck, pal.”
I wonder if the writer of that review was in favor of allowing the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop to use religion to discriminate against LGBTQ customers.

I'm not sure I see much difference between refusing to serve someone because of their political beliefs and refusing to serve someone because of their religious beliefs and the recent Supreme Court ruling on the Masterpiece Cakeshop incident doesn't really help determine the legality of doing either.

But, if you're ok with the baker saying, "I won't make this cake for you because I don't countenance your behavior. It's against my religion."

...then you ought to be ok with a restauranteur saying, "I won't serve you a meal because I find your political behavior abhorrent."

...and vice versa.


🌮🍽🎂

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