Who is Harmed?

I wasn’t originally going to post a counterpoint to yesterday’s cui bono discussion, but then I saw the case about the atheist activist who is suing a Pennsylvania restaurant he has never actually visited because of its standing Sunday discount for anyone who brings in a copy of their church bulletin, and I thought we should at least consider it. You can find the original story on the Penn Live news site, but the facts of the case are pretty simple: a restaurant owner noticed that business was slow on Sunday, and since the establishment is already a favorite of local clergy, decided to run with the theme and offer anyone who brings in a church bulletin a discount on Sunday dinner. The owner has stated that it doesn’t matter what denomination the bulletin is from, or even if the patron actually attends the corresponding church; anyone is welcome to cash in on the deal. But apparently that doesn’t do it for the militant atheist in our story…

The person behind the lawsuit is a member of a Wisconsin-based group calling itself the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which claims that its mission is to educate people about the Constitutional separation of church and state. They’ve turned up a number of times in the last few years, protesting anything that they feel infringes on that guaranteed freedom – they are the ones who filed suit over the Pennsylvania Legislature declaring 2012 the Year of the Bible, according to the linked story. The problem here seems to be that either these folks aren’t clear on what the separation of church and state actually means, or else they’re so anti-religion that they want to destroy all public mention of any faith except their own (the belief that there is no deity and therefore all of the world’s religions are invalid)…

The Constitutional provision to which they’re referring doesn’t say that you can’t have any public mention of religion; nor does it recognize the right of Americans to exist in a space completely free of religious observance, music, iconography, or anything else. The Constitution prohibits Congress from adopting an official State religion, or from interfering with the rights of Americans to practice whatever form of religion they believe in; it does not protect anyone else from being bothered by that practice. Thus, a mandated religious practice enforced by the State – be it mandatory school prayer or display of religious iconography in public buildings – is Unconstitutional, and is routinely ruled as such by the courts. Denying access to a place of public accommodation to someone on the basis of religion might be an issue, but the owners are correct in pointing out that the discount they are offering is no different from the Senior discount offered by many restaurants – or from the discount I used to offer to Veterans when I ran a service business in Los Angeles…

Now, I’ll admit that my credentials in Constitutional law aren’t better than any other kind, and suggest that you consult with someone who does have a license to practice law before you make any business decisions on this issue. But as far as I can tell, the complaint of someone who is not now and has never been a customer of a business regarding a discount that the owners have selected to increase business has no more merit than the lawsuit we saw last year in protest of Ladies Night at a bar, and neither the activist nor his Foundation have any standing to take action on behalf of the State or its citizens. And even if this suit does make sense from a legal standpoint, it’s still hogwash from a business standpoint…

We have a great tradition in America called “voting with your feet.” If the theme, or decoration, or business practices of a local company offend you, then don’t do business with them. If enough people are offended enough to stop doing business there, the owners will either have to change their ways or go under, and in either case they won’t be bothering you anymore. But demanding that everyone in your community refrain from any behavior that could possibly offend your sense of “religiosity” makes no sense of any kind – and destroying a local business because its owner does not share your religious beliefs is functionally no different from bombing a company you consider infidel. Let’s hope the atheists in our story realize that they have become the very fanatics they claim to oppose before anyone gets hurt…