pulga wrote: ↑Mon Mar 26, 2018 8:04 pm
In Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the Court will soon determine whether the government can compel a U.S. citizen to violate his conscience and participate in speech that violates his sincerely held religious beliefs.
President Trump with his appointment of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court bench has been a godsend for those who wish to practice their religion in accordance with their beliefs.
The issue is a very slippery slope. If the Court allows individual beliefs to supersede the Constitution and other laws, who decides where and when that is appropriate and "sincere?"
Will doctors then be allowed to deny patients' care because they don't agree with the patients gender or sexual orientation?
If I, a transgender person, am lying on a gurney in an ER having a heart attack, can a Christian cardiologist refuse to
treat me?
Will nurses be able to refuse to care for patients who are of a different religion than themselves?
Will landlords be able to refuse to rent to couples or who aren't married? Individuals who are HIV positive? Lesbian? Gay? Have children born out of wedlock?
Will store owners be able to refuse to serve patrons based on race, color, creed, national origin? Gender, sexual orientation, marital status?
Will a funeral director be able to refuse to bury people based on religion?
Will I finally be able to stop paying taxes to the American war machine without risk of going to jail? Killing is against my religion.
Say I'm a US citizen who happens to be Muslim and my sincerely held religious belief is that Christians are infidels? Can I legally murder them?
If a person hasn't been to church in 30 years, but claims to have "sincere religious beliefs," are they lying? Will attendance be taken at church? (just kidding here)
Do we really intend to cater the every whim of the individual conscience?
I sincerely hope the Justices, in their wisdom, come to a decision that does not produce catastrophic unintended consequences.