re: I Stand in Awe of Arkansas' Legislators

You bunch sure are funny. Should have gotten in on this circle jerk earlier, just could not bring myself to bust it up before yall got a nut.

The fact that some millions of people in the United States, and especially in Arkansas are still devoutly religious, and therefore are going to have differing world views than the Fayetteville progressive left makes them "bigots" and "gay haters". Excellent.

Maybe they simply believe that its morally wrong, and do not want to be a part of it? Disagree? Take your business elsewhere.

I forgot to mention the portion where this bill simply gives those with religious objections a leg to stand on in court if sued, or if they believe the state passes further legislation that effects their right to practice their religion. There is nothing even remotely tied to "legalizing the persecution of gays" as one moronic Fayettevillian posted on Facebook this evening.

Based on the horseshite I have been reading on Facebook and Twitter, Asa is contemplating signing into law a bill that allows gay men and women to be thrown off of roof tops into the street. Surprisingly, there are places on earth where that does happen, daily. Nary a mention of that on here. Figures. WalMart in Fayetteville is sold out of Kleenex.

I own a web design company. I got a proposal in for this pretty long term / big gig. So I have a conference call today and within 5 mins of talking to him we both realize we're both from Arkansas. He's from Bentonville and lives in LA and I'm from little rock and live in NJ.


This guy is about 35 years old and basically owns a boiler room like business that goes around selling restaurant websites to restaurants around the country and does the same thing for real estate. They crank out about 50-70 websites a month. He's looking to add retail sites to this boiler room sales pitch and that's where I come in, he wanted a quote to handle all of the retail sites that his company sales.


So I ask him, man how did you end up in LA. He told me'Man i couldn't find a job back home". Not only that he was considering coming back here because it's cheaper here but he can't find programmers, not enough to work what he needs, that are good lol to do what he wants done so what's the point?



The 800 pound gorilla in the room is if the avg citizen realized how much money was in tech / web development money that they are pissing away by pissing off people they would think twice. If I came back home I could hire 10 programmers right now at 30-40k a year and I'm a pretty small business. Also I'm just 31. What do you think I'm gonna be doing when I'm 35?
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But it is what it is. Piss off who you wish . I kinda wish I could come back home I'd live like a fricking king it's so cheap down there.

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Unless, of course, that person has a different opinion that you. Correct?

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Incorrect.

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If a Catholic priest objects to marrying a gay couple, that somehow means they are less equal? No. It means he has a religious obligation to do what he firmly believes is correct in Gods eyes. Who the hell are you to demand that he do otherwise?

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I agree, and I don't know anyone in this thread who has suggested what you just said. Beat on those straw men all you like.

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I cant wait for the LGBT community to go through the rest of the Bill of Rights and determine how it can be improved.

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They aren't trying to change anything about the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment does not grant the right to discriminate on a religious basis. The Fourteenth Amendment grants all people the right to equal protection under the law and, among other things, equal access to public accommodation*. The government's definition of "public accommodation" includes restaurants, pizza parlors, bakeries, retail stores, etc. And "access" does not just mean access to the physical space, includes access to the services generally rendered to the public.

Now, with all this said, I agree that the RFRA law will not explicitly allow discrimination against gay people. In fact, sexual orientation is not even a protected class in Arkansas, and gay marriage is not currently possible (though it was for a short time and may soon be again). So there's really no scenario, at this time, in which the RFRA could apply to discrimination against gay people.

However, that doesn't mean that the laws in Arkansas could not change such that the RFRA could become applicable.

I agree that the controversy has been overblown by many people, but I appreciate the importance of the debate the country is having.

* The Title II clause about public accommodation does not list sexual orientation as a protected class, but the equal protection clause explicitly says that equal protection under the law applies to all people. Some states have passed their own legislation to add sexual orientation and, in some states, gender identity, as protected classes--this was the case in Oregon and it's why the bakery in Oregon lost their discrimination case.

Apparently asserting your right to equal protection under the law = being a bully

As a good Catholic that doesn't believe in premarital sex could I refuse to make a kid born out of wedlock a birthday cake? This law is bad for a lot of reasons not the least of which is denying a group of people equal protection under the law, not to mention the very real economic consequences, I don't see businesses lining up for this one. Our state has enough real problems without shooting ourselves in the foot. What bothers me almost as much as the legislature coming up with this stupid law is the way they have moved forward with this even after seeing the backlash in Indiana. That to me shows a real lack of common sense.

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As a good Catholic that doesn't believe in premarital sex could I refuse to make a kid born out of wedlock a birthday cake? This law is bad for a lot of reasons not the least of which is denying a group of people equal protection under the law, not to mention the very real economic consequences, I don't see businesses lining up for this one. Our state has enough real problems without shooting ourselves in the foot. What bothers me almost as much as the legislature coming up with this stupid law is the way they have moved forward with this even after seeing the backlash in Indiana. That to me shows a real lack of common sense.

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According to defenders of religious discrimination, it would seem that any sincerely held religious belief could be used to justify the refusal of service to a person.

The legislature made it right. They passed the "fix-bill" so we can move forward. The bill Asa asked for, he got.

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Let us face facts here. Two adults having consensual sex offends you... as long as they aren't playing by your rules.

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People are free to do whatever they want to. I will admit the thought of gay sex is gross to me, but if that's what they want to do, do it in the privacy of their own home.

Just don't try to convince me that I don't have the right to think it's gross, or try to force me to endorse and/or participate in it.

ETA: Participate was a very poor choice of word without elaborating on it further. By 'participation' I meant involvement in any ceremony or action to further the gay cause or agenda, I did not mean any sexual activity. There's certainly no chance in hell of that!

where are you living that people are forcing you to participate in homosexual activity

Not no, but HELL no! LOL.

I'm just saying, don't try to force your (homosexual) agenda on me, and don't try to convince me it's 'normal'. It's not. But you can do whatever abnormal shite you want to, just keep it in your own house.