Something I should say more often

[wufwugy]

I was gonna ask if the gay wedding cake-gate is what's the underlying issue here.

What do you think about that?

[CoccoBill]

What do you think about that?

My initial thoughts were wouldn't it be nice to live in a world without religious zealots and narrow-minded pricks. We don't though, so shit like this happens. Like I said, I'm absolutely for equal treatment under law for everyone, and absolutely against prejudice and bigotry. The gay couple's rights are being infringed, but not very severely. There are likely other places that serve them, and as material loss the worst is maybe missing deadlines. The emotional damage shouldn't be overlooked though, being discriminated is not fun. The bigot cake-bakers rights would also be infringed, if he were to be forced to serve them. If he were providing a public service, he should absolutely be forced to serve them, but being a private small business it's a bit more debatable. It also depends on the service, and the outcome for the encroached. Being denied a wedding cake is inconvenient, not life-threatening. Being denied a cab service at night 20 miles from the nearest building could be close to life-threatening, but that would (or should) probably fall under criminal negligence. I think in this case, overall, the infractions against the gay couple are probably a bit more severe than forcing the baker to serve them would be. However.

I definitely wouldn't vote for a law forcing everyone to provide their services to everyone under all circumstances.
I wouldn't vote for a law making it categorically illegal to be a bigot against someone.
In this particular case, I would personally probably let the cake bigot walk, and hope no one does business with him anymore. In a slightly different case I might have a different opinion, so I'd definitely not rule in favor of the bigoted ass bitch by default either.

[wufwugy]

My initial thoughts were wouldn't it be nice to live in a world without religious zealots and narrow-minded pricks. We don't though, so shit like this happens. Like I said, I'm absolutely for equal treatment under law for everyone, and absolutely against prejudice and bigotry. The gay couple's rights are being infringed, but not very severely. There are likely other places that serve them, and as material loss the worst is maybe missing deadlines. The emotional damage shouldn't be overlooked though, being discriminated is not fun. The bigot cake-bakers rights would also be infringed, if he were to be forced to serve them. If he were providing a public service, he should absolutely be forced to serve them, but being a private small business it's a bit more debatable. It also depends on the service, and the outcome for the encroached. Being denied a wedding cake is inconvenient, not life-threatening. Being denied a cab service at night 20 miles from the nearest building could be close to life-threatening, but that would (or should) probably fall under criminal negligence. I think in this case, overall, the infractions against the gay couple are probably a bit more severe than forcing the baker to serve them would be. However.

I definitely wouldn't vote for a law forcing everyone to provide their services to everyone under all circumstances.
I wouldn't vote for a law making it categorically illegal to be a bigot against someone.
In this particular case, I would personally probably let the cake bigot walk, and hope no one does business with him anymore. In a slightly different case I might have a different opinion, so I'd definitely not rule in favor of the bigoted ass bitch by default either.

Your views mirror mine so much.

You've added another line of deep thought, about how if it was a life-threatening situation, maybe our rationale should be different. That's a point worth giving great consideration to.

About letting the cake bigot walk and not doing business with him, yeah man, it can be a useful way of looking at the world. I want to know who the losers are so I can avoid them and reward the cool people. There's a philosophical principle in economics for why this allows people the most ability to make positive change in society.

Good stuff, great thinking.