I'm frankly getting tired of writing about "religious freedom" laws and arguments, yet it seems that at least once a day, I read a new headline and story regarding the matter. The latest such case involves Linda Summers, a former deputy clerk at the county clerk's office in Harrison County, Indiana, who was fired from her job for refusing to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple due to her religious beliefs. In light of this, Summers has decided to fight back against her employer's decision and take the matter to court, as she's filed a lawsuit, contending that employers whom force employees to issue same-sex couples marriage licenses are the bigoted ones in this scenario.
I'm going to try and condense this response as much as possible, because, as I just stated, I'm getting quite tired of reading and writing about this topic. Freedoms are not absolute. While we may be freer than most people in the world on a fairly regular basis, those freedoms are still limited depending on the situation and setting. The workplace is such an example. Linda Summers can believe whatever she so chooses inside or outside of the workplace with regard to religion, an afterlife, the Super Bowl, alien life, gay marriage, or whatever. However, if such a belief prevents her from fully doing her job and serving people equally as according to the law, then that's when she's going to run into problems and potentially get herself fired.
Bigot is defined as, "A person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion."
It wasn't an act of bigotry for Linda Summers' employer to fire her because she wasn't willing to do her job for each and every person under the law. It was an act of bigotry for Linda Summers to refuse service required by law to a certain group of people based on their sexual orientation. If a person, like Linda Summers, is unwilling to do their job and serve everyone equally, even those they may disagree with on one level or another, they shouldn't be working that job.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/07/27/3684515/religious-rights-last-best-chance-create-legal-right-discriminate/
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bigot?s=t
I'm going to try and condense this response as much as possible, because, as I just stated, I'm getting quite tired of reading and writing about this topic. Freedoms are not absolute. While we may be freer than most people in the world on a fairly regular basis, those freedoms are still limited depending on the situation and setting. The workplace is such an example. Linda Summers can believe whatever she so chooses inside or outside of the workplace with regard to religion, an afterlife, the Super Bowl, alien life, gay marriage, or whatever. However, if such a belief prevents her from fully doing her job and serving people equally as according to the law, then that's when she's going to run into problems and potentially get herself fired.
Bigot is defined as, "A person who is utterly intolerant of any differing creed, belief, or opinion."
It wasn't an act of bigotry for Linda Summers' employer to fire her because she wasn't willing to do her job for each and every person under the law. It was an act of bigotry for Linda Summers to refuse service required by law to a certain group of people based on their sexual orientation. If a person, like Linda Summers, is unwilling to do their job and serve everyone equally, even those they may disagree with on one level or another, they shouldn't be working that job.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/07/27/3684515/religious-rights-last-best-chance-create-legal-right-discriminate/
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bigot?s=t
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