E.G. BellWith Cancel Culture and recent decisions by the Supreme Court, I’m feeling a little skittish. I went into Cousin Basil’s (formerly Iron Mountain Grill on Route 36 between Leeper and Brookville, right by the end of Route 899) and a sign caught my attention.
If you are visually impaired, we will not be able to serve you.
This seemed discriminatory but I was hungry so I took my glasses off and we were seated and ate our lunch without event. (Without my glasses, it is impossible to tell I am visually impaired.) Then I started to worry about the drive home. DUI is sometimes called DWI and I did some research. Sometimes it means ‘Driving While Intoxicated’. Sometimes it means ‘Driving While Impaired’. It seems kind of subjective. While I would NEVER do one, someone could consider me to be doing the other. I have an appointment to see an eye doctor later this month. I have a cataract in my left eye and it is becoming more impairing. I don’t want to get in trouble over someone’s definition of impairment.
I do get that they were talking about overindulgence of alcohol, and I do believe they not only have the right to make this call, they also have the obligation. Lives are at stake and more than those of the impaired. However, news lately is expanding customer service rights/obligations in ways I think are questionable. Even dangerous. Extreme. Inflicting extremes on others.
Dr. Abraham is an orthodox Syllibist. He is the world’s foremost expert on the treatment of all chlomotic issues including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. He literally wrote the book on chlomoticism. It is a relatively new science and his research is pioneering.
Dr. Abraham is devoutly religious; A strict adherent of his religion which strongly encourages separation from non-believers. His is not a Christian religion. It preaches many of the same things as far as how to live and treat other people. It just physically and spiritually stresses him to have to live in a world of people that does not practice what he believes fervently to be right.
Dr. Abraham works for a major hospital. He has moved mostly to research as his religious beliefs move him to ‘remove himself from the world.’ He resolutely refuses to treat sufferers of chlomoticism who do not believe as he does. It is associated with a widespread practice his faith condemns. Chlomoticism is usually fatal if not treated early. There are very few doctors qualified to treat it and most are also Syllibist, trained by Dr. Abraham. A recent news story tells of a child diagnosed with late-stage chlomoticism. Time is running out and Dr. Abraham, pained though he is, has absolutely refused to treat the child because of his strong religious beliefs. The parents, not Syllibists, have taken him to court and prevailed in the lower courts but the case is headed to the Supreme Court where it is expected, given recent decisions, to be in favor of the doctor on religious grounds.
If this is alarming, you can calm down. I made the whole thing up to point out one scenario that could occur. In the past years, we have witnessed a court clerk refusing to do part of her job (issue marriage licenses) because the couple was gay, a violation of her beliefs. Kim Davis, married four times, twice to the same man; At least two children out of wedlock; making $80,000/yr for a public job she was refusing to do because of her late-found beliefs… and refusing to resign. Newt Gingrich stood in the House of Representatives castigating Bill Clinton for immoral conduct while at the SAME TIME committing adultery. Do you remember Larry Craig, very publicly anti-gay Idaho senator? He helped enact the ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ policy regarding homosexuality in the military. Mr. Craig came to resign his congressional seat after being entangled in a homosexual incident in a public restroom. When consequences came calling, he tried to withdraw his guilty plea but was unable. The damage was done.
I could go on. And on. It is not my intention to judge people who seem to be pretty judgmental on their own. What I’m trying to emphasize is that people who profess beliefs often fail to practice what they preach. That is fine until they insist on the rest of the world practicing what they preach.
There have been a couple of Supreme Court cases in the news recently. Should a web designer or cake maker be forced to design a website or decorate a cake with things for people who believe differently? Maybe not, but where does it end? Can a gas station refuse to sell gas because the customer is an adulterer? Can a mail carrier refuse to deliver mail to someone because that person is a fornicator? Can a teacher refuse to teach a student who is engaging in premarital sex? Can a Catholic police officer (or doctor) refuse to respond to a call from a Lutheran or Muslim? Can a pharmacist decide what medicines may be sold? And to whom? Should belief systems be able to dictate responsibilities for all fields? Who adjudicates differences of beliefs? Who decides what belief is right? Who decides who decides when the beliefs of one believer are different than those of another?
People interact with all kinds of people without even knowing; People who do things and are things they would not approve. Selling gas to an adulterer does not condone adultery. Delivering mail does not condone the practices or beliefs of the recipient. It happens every day. If something is to be judged, if the bible is to be believed, there is a judge. Judgment will happen. By someone qualified to render proper judgment.
Recently, some decisions have allowed believers to inflict beliefs on ‘different-believers’. These could become bites that bite back. You know what they say about things that go around…
