This is the Cross that Ms & Ms Smith Carry

          If you have read my previous posts, you know that Ms and Ms Smith are a same-sex couple that has been slowly gaining legal marital approval among the US. Today, I found an interesting article that relates to the journey of the Smiths as I was reading my classmates blogs, so I decided to share it. The name of the article is Gay Rights Vs. Religious Liberty by Allison Frueh. It is clear that Allison sympathizes with the cause and journey of same-sex couples who are fighting for the same rights of heterosexual couples, so this article's target is a liberal audience. I decided to share it because I think her article can be seen as an extension of the one I wrote previously

          Allison argues that there is a thin line between when heterosexism is justified or not by religious freedom. To support this argument Allison provided the example of a business owner who refused to offer services to a gay couple, based on the argument that such action was against christian believes. The contradiction in this story is that the owner was sued, and fined under the charges of discrimination even when she has freedom of religion. Even when I think this is a perfect example of a contradictory situation involving religion and homosexuality, it would have been more completed if Allison provided a link with more information about the story. I believe she did a great job trying to keep a neutral tone on her statements, for this shows how insightful she is and reaffirms her desire to find common ground in this matter. I agree with Allison's opinion that it is not wrong for a pastor to refuse his religious services based on sexual preferences, because he has the constitutional right to exercise his religion as it is established. However, I would have liked her to explain why this scenario can be compared with discriminating job applicants, even when the scenarios are very different and apply to different laws like the constitution or federal law. I understand her comparison and agree with it, but some kind of explanation would have helped readers who are not well informed about politics to understand the analogy. Allison ends her article stating her believe that "Businesses that hold themselves out as public accommodations should be ready and willing to serve everyone. Anything else is discrimination." which I think is a superb sentence to summarize and clearly state her opinion.

          I completely agree with Allison's point of view through the article and would recommend everybody to read it, as well as the original story. I would like to end my critic with a question: If worshipers have freedom of religion, does that exempt them from following other laws?