I’m glad that you agree that avoiding racial segregation is a compelling interest (although that concession seems inconsistent with your prior post, in which you claim that we as a society can’t really know much of anything). But I still haven’t seen any good explanation for why discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation (or objection to same-sex ceremonies) is materially less harmful than discrimination on the basis of race (or objection to interracial ceremonies). There are more religious objections to the latter than to the former – but there used to be a great many religious objections to even the former.
At the end of the day, an argument that same-sex discrimination is “better” than race discrimination can’t just be asserted, and it can’t be bootstrapped on the basis of vocal religious objections to the same-sex relationships or ceremonies. On Feb 26, 2014, at 4:17 PM, Sisk, Gregory C. <gcs...@stthomas.edu<mailto:gcs...@stthomas.edu>> wrote: No such logic exists. Your inference omits my express reference to the requirement of a substantial burden and the omission of a compelling public interest. A return to racial segregation and inability to receive services on the basis of race would easily qualify as a compelling public interest. The narrow question presented in these cases is whether a religious minority may decline to participate in a ceremonial message with which they disagree, especially when alternative venues and services are readily available and thus no actual burden is imposed on anyone. Gregory Sisk Laghi Distinguished Chair in Law University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota) MSL 400, 1000 LaSalle Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55403-2005 651-962-4923 gcs...@stthomas.edu<mailto:gcs...@stthomas.edu> http://personal.stthomas.edu/GCSISK/sisk.html<http://personal2.stthomas.edu/GCSISK/sisk.html> Publications: http://ssrn.com/author=44545 From: religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu<mailto:religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu> [mailto:religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Greg Lipper Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2014 2:55 PM To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics Subject: Re: Statistics on believers and same-sex marriage I appreciate your consistency – and your acknowledgement that the logic underlying the Arizona legislation would enable a return to racial discrimination and segregation (at least when motivated by religious beliefs). On Feb 26, 2014, at 3:40 PM, Sisk, Gregory C. <gcs...@stthomas.edu<mailto:gcs...@stthomas.edu>> wrote: Yes, I do support religious liberty claims for religious minorities, when a substantial burden on exercise of faith is shown and a compelling government interest is missing. I do not limit my support for religious liberty to those exercises of religion that correspond to my own views, for that is not freedom at all. I’ve consistently defended claims by multiple religious minorities, from Muslims to American Indian groups and on to Orthodox Jews, as well as evangelical Christians and Catholics. Nor is my plea to accommodate the small business owner limited to a particular type of objection. An events photographer should be free, as a matter of both free exercise of religion and freedom of speech, to decline to photograph events that communicate a message with which she disagrees, whether that be a military deployment send-off event (because she is a pacifist) or a same-sex marriage ceremony (because she adheres to traditional religious perspectives on sexual morality) or, for that matter, a Catholic First Communion (because she regards the Catholic Church as oppressive). Gregory Sisk Laghi Distinguished Chair in Law University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota) MSL 400, 1000 LaSalle Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55403-2005 651-962-4923 gcs...@stthomas.edu<mailto:gcs...@stthomas.edu> http://personal.stthomas.edu/GCSISK/sisk.html<http://personal2.stthomas.edu/GCSISK/sisk.html> Publications: http://ssrn.com/author=44545 _______________________________________________ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu<mailto:Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
_______________________________________________ To post, send message to Religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/religionlaw Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
