"Here’s a theoretical question ... should a bigot be free to refuse service to anyone based on race or ethnicity?"
No.
Many Freepers get this wrong. The Bible is clear on this. It's Godly to treat others equally when it's something they are born with. Examples:
- Skin color
- Birthplace
- Deformities and disabilities
- Diseases or ailments
It's also Godly to have righteous discrimination against bad or unhealthy
behaviors. So, any business who wants to be Godly and legal must make business rules based on
disallowed behaviors. Like:
- No girl kissy girl
- No boy kissy boy
- No stinky customers
- No ugly handbags
- No baseball caps that say "DAWG"
Then there's the "flip side" to this argument. "But we were born this way". Even if that were true (uh huh), marriage is a choice. Holding hands in public is a choice. Choosing a partner is a choice.
What the photographers should have said was, "We didn't accept their business because our policy says we don't allow the photographing of men kissing men, women kissing women, men or women kissing animals, or any acts of a sexual nature."
That would have set them in the clear right there. You're not discriminating against the people. You're discriminating against the ACT. And now you can claim hardship when courts ask why you have the policy. You say, "Our customers are traditional and if word got out we were photographing devious filthy behavior we'd go out of business. These acts are considered by our staff to be pornography. Even though pornography is legal, we choose not to partake in it."
They have a choice to display their "love" for each other. You have a right to tell them to pound sand.
RE: t’s Godly to treat others equally when it’s something they are born with.
How to respond to NJ Gov. Chris Christie, who said: “If someone is born that way, it’s very difficult to say then that that’s a sin,”