Rick Santorum: Should Gay Print Shop Owners Be Forced To Print ‘God Hates Fags’ Signs?
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Thank you to CBS’s Face the Nation and host Norah O’Donnell for finally looping Rick Santorum into the debate about “religious freedom” and anti-gay discrimination. What the nation really needs right now is Santorum’s take on all of this — the same zealot who said that same-sex marriage will lead to man-on-dog sex. It’s sort of like asking Bill Cosby to weigh-in on the campus rape issue. Nothing helpful will be achieved and only ugliness will ensue.
And so it was with Santorum, whose concept of family values includes scamming the taxpayers of Penn Hills, Pennsylvania to finance a cyber charter school education for his kids, not to mention the fact that Santorum nearly ran on a “unity ticket” in 2012 with thrice-married adulterer Newt Gingrich in spite all the terrible biblical condemnations of divorce, debauchery and philandering. Santorum has also appeared on the Rush Limbaugh Show, even though Limbaugh has been married four times and was stopped at the airport with a stash of Viagra (not in his name) during a guys-only vacation to the Dominican Republic. After all, we’ve been told for the last week that the Bible forbids doing business with “sinners,” but maybe there’s an exception carved out for political expedience and residency scams.
Before we get into his awful remarks about the RFRA, Santorum was asked about the framework deal between the P5-plus-one nations and Iran on its nuclear development. Naturally, like most Republicans, Santorum crapped all over it. But Santorum, a devout Catholic, should probably rethink his views on the deal given how Pope Francis spoke in support of the deal on Sunday, saying, “At the same time, in hope we entrust to the merciful Lord the framework recently agreed to in Lausanne, that it may be a definitive step toward a more secure and fraternal world.” He hopes the deal will work. Conversely, Santorum has no hope that it’ll work, suggesting that it’s going to lead to “more dangerous things.” Oh, and by the way, Santorum vocally supports Israel even though it offers free abortions to women ages 20-33, which is not only contrary to his Catholicism but he also believes it’s a genocide and against the unborn. Oops.
What does all this mean exactly? Clearly, Christians don’t really have an issue with violating some of the tenets of their faith or against expressing an opinion that’s the opposite of their Church’s supreme leader — unless, that is, it has to do with a topic that makes them feel all oogy. In that case, they trot out every cherry-picked line from the Bible as an excuse to justify their ooginess. There’s something particularly sinister about unwaveringly adhering to one alleged rule but mostly ignoring others — especially ones that are condemned by the Bible far more often than same-sex intercourse.
So, yes, Santorum was asked about the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFA)… CONTINUE READING
Anomaly 100 April 6th, 2015 at 8:15 am
Ahem.
William April 6th, 2015 at 9:07 am
What exactly is a “gay print shop” anyway?
Clearly another fundamentalist right wing, gay sex obsessed, nut job who slaps the “Christian” label on his own twisted view of the world.
J.D. Rhoades April 6th, 2015 at 9:29 am
Santorum is not a “devout Catholic.” He just plays one on TV,
Budda April 6th, 2015 at 10:11 am
Ah Rick let me see if I can help you here. One action is discrimination and one might be refusing to participate in hate speach. Let’s turn it a little more, what if a “straight” print shop refused to print “God hates fags”?
Robert M. Snyder April 6th, 2015 at 8:55 pm
“what if a “straight” print shop refused to print “God hates fags”?”
Indeed. What if they did refuse?
Jimmy Cahill April 6th, 2015 at 10:23 am
I hate when people get hate speech confused with 1st amendment protections. “God Hates Fags” is absolutely hate speech, regardless of what their religion is. It never says that in the bible, it was created by bigots. It should not be protected speech in any way.
frambley1 April 6th, 2015 at 9:01 pm
I am not sure, but I think the distinction here is that when someone says ‘God Hates Fags’ it is not a threat or a call to do something, it is simply a statement. (a horribly misguided one not rooted in the bible or christianity as you say).
I believe that in order of it to be considered hate speech, that is not protected by law, it has to make someone feel threatened or feel compelled to do something illegal or violent.
fahvel April 6th, 2015 at 11:00 am
where the hell do these pieces of detritus come from – you have some truly fine examples of human degeneracy on a par with any others around the world that you are so fond of criticizing. Gotta print it but charge about $1000 per word and the same for each copy.
Robert M. Snyder April 6th, 2015 at 5:24 pm
If it is legal for the Westboro Baptist Church to carry signs that say “God hates fags”, then those words would be considered protected speech, not hate speech, under American law. In that case, if you believe in treating all customers equally, then there is no excuse for NOT printing the signs. If a Muslim printer is required to print a poster bearing an image of the prophet Mohammed, and if a Christian printer is required to print a poster bearing an image of the artwork called The Piss Christ, then equality would demand that the gay printer be required to print the Westboro Baptist posters. Santorum is asking us to consider the consequences of demanding absolute equality. Are you prepared to see a court impose fines on Muslim, Christian, or gay printers who refuse to print posters bearing legally protected free speech messages?
frambley1 April 6th, 2015 at 8:28 pm
Where in these horrible laws does it say anything about printing something that your faith disagrees with? Was somebody forced to print signs for the westboro baptists church? I’m confused.
Robert M. Snyder April 6th, 2015 at 8:36 pm
It all started with a birthday cake and two plastic grooms. If I recall correctly, somebody refused to create such a cake, the customer sued, and the court fined the baker for discrimination. So the issue is whether or when a business or an employee has a right to refuse to provide a product or service that is counter to their personal beliefs.
frambley1 April 6th, 2015 at 8:55 pm
That is discriminating against a person or people, not an idea. They refused to do what this customer wanted because they object to them, the people, not an idea. There is a fundamental difference between not providing a service to someone because of who they are, and not agreeing to print something that is morally objectionable. I don’t think anyone has been forced to do the latter. It is not an easy distinction to make, but it is very important.
Robert M. Snyder April 6th, 2015 at 9:35 pm
It’s the age-old question of nature vs. nurture. Genetics clearly has something to do with sexual identity. Upbringing also has a significant effect. Most people do not believe that they have any choice in the matter.
I believe that people do have a choice, but most people never realize it because they are comfortable with their current identities and never seriously consider anything else.
Most people would say that homophobia means being afraid of another person’s homosexuality. I believe that homophobia is a fear of the possibility that YOU might be capable of being intimate with someone of the same sex.
Liberals and conservatives cling to the notion that people have no choice in the matter. I see that as evidence that homophobia is alive and well on both sides. Nobody wants to admit that they have a choice.
OldLefty April 6th, 2015 at 9:13 pm
Businesses can have policies wherein they will not write obscenities, etc.
The problem comes when they will provide a good or service for everyone but will not provide the same good or service for someone else based on their race, religion or sexual orientation .
Robert M. Snyder April 6th, 2015 at 9:39 pm
It seems to me that technology will eventually make a lot of these issues moot. When computerized machines are printing the messages on cakes and signs, then people can enter anything they want and the machine will print it. The human is out of the loop (and maybe out of a job).
OldLefty April 6th, 2015 at 10:06 pm
HAL 9000 will take care of us once and for all.