Blind Prophecy

Not the most exciting Saturday on record. I spent most of the day doing homework.

A tip for anyone eating at St. Francis Fountain in San Francisco, if you see the place staffed entirely by waitresses, keep on walking. If any of the guys are working, and you’re reasonably sure they’ll be your server, go on in. I’ve been avoiding eating there lately because the last few times I’ve been in, I’ve had to deal with the women who, at best, are slow and often get my order wrong or, at worst, are totally rude and bitchy to me. Luckily, tonight they had the good-looking guys working, so it turned out to be a great place to study for an hour or so.

I’ve been laying off the political ranting for the last week or so, but I saw a story today that pissed me off. You know, I have no tolerance for the recent trend of pharmacists denying birth control to women based on their religious beliefs. In this case, the pharmacist didn’t just refuse to fill a prescription, he wouldn’t refer the woman to another pharmacist either. Then he sued when the state Pharmacy Examining Board sanctioned him, claiming religious persecution.

Here’s what people like this pharmacist, and those who oppose ENDA-style laws on religious grounds, and those who feel personally attacked by laws preventing local governments from sponsoring nativity displays, simply don’t get: it’s not religious discrimination when the law prevents you from imposing your religious beliefs on other people. For examples of what is religious discrimination, see the EEOC guidelines or their handy facts about religious discrimination.

Recasting religious people as victims of discrimination when the government or regulatory agencies are trying to crack down on other forms of discrimination–with their roots in a particular vein of dominant religious thought–is an increasingly common approach. It’s also dishonest and offensive to anyone who has genuinely been a victim of institutional discrimination. Yet, it rallies the troops and generates strong emotions, so don’t expect it to go away anytime soon.

Filed under: atheism, politics by Jere Keys