Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site mcnc.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!mcnc!bch From: bch@mcnc.UUCP (Byron Howes) Newsgroups: net.religion,net.motss Subject: Re: I've said it before and I'll say it again ... Message-ID: <2308@mcnc.UUCP> Date: Tue, 23-Oct-84 01:34:28 EDT Article-I.D.: mcnc.2308 Posted: Tue Oct 23 01:34:28 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 24-Oct-84 08:01:54 EDT References: Reply-To: bch@mcnc.UUCP (Byron Howes) Organization: North Carolina Educational Computing Service Lines: 43 Summary: In article brunson@usfbobo.UUCP (David Brunson) writes: > >... if you had been reading carefully, you would know that I >am not advocating discrimination against homosexuals... > >But I also don't want a law that would force me to hire, or otherwise >do business with homosexuals IF I DON'T WANT TO. There is currently no >such law at the federal level. Some are proposing one. > I'm not sure that your definition of discrimination and mine agree. As I look at the things you don't want (in the second paragraph above) it occurs to me that these have been time-honored justifications for blatant discrimination against blacks, jews, women, and other minorities. At least that's the kind of thing I heard 25 years ago. In an historical sense you are indeed advocating discrimination against gays. No, there are no federal laws which force you to hire or do business with gays. There are, however, laws which prohibit you from discriminating against gays. This may seem a fine point, but it is the law and you have (hypothetically) overstepped it in previous postings. The operative phrase is "equal protection under the law." I may not discriminate against you on the basis of your fundamentalist views (provided they do not impact your performance on the job.) I may not turn down Jane Doe for a job because she is female and I may not fire or turn down John Doe for a job simply becaused he is gay. Note that I am not forced to hire you because you are a fundamentalist, nor am I forced to hire females or gays. In fact, if there are clearly better qualified candidates on hand, I am not forced to hire *any* minority candidate under current law. It is when the difference in qualifications becomes unclear that the appropriate laws take effect. I don't think anyone here is suggesting anything different, but of course I may be wrong. At any rate, refusal to grant equal protection to any citizen is as much a criminal act as theft or murder, though it may seem to differ by degree. These rights are guaranteed to you as much as to anyone else, and it serves us all well when we uphold them. -- Byron C. Howes {decvax|akgua}!mcnc!ecsvax!bch