The Conservative Era "One of the purposes of the Supreme Court in the US Constitution is to provide clarity to contentious situations. Over the last several years, the high court has dealt with several issues related to religious rights. It seems the issue of faith has become a more legal issue than in the past, especially when it comes to the intersection of discrimination.
"On Monday, justices heard a case involving religious freedom and free speech discrimination. Lorie Smith owns a custom website design firm in Colorado. She is an evangelical Christian who says it violates her conscience and faith to design wedding websites for gay couples. She proactively challenged a Colorado law prohibiting businesses from discriminating against LGBTQ customers.
"So, the question is, does the First Amendment protect the rights of religious and LGBTQ persons when there is a contradiction?
"The challenge is that everyone has a right to be respected. Yet, when is a line crossed? For either side, does the issue become discriminatory or bullying at a certain point? Here is the answer, in my view.
"The Bill of Rights has three provisions pertinent to this case:". . .
. . ."The very definition of bullying is trying to coerce or intimidate someone into doing something they don’t want to do or find objectionable. Is that what Colorado is doing? Smith has a guaranteed right to choose who she wants to do business with on religious grounds. Perhaps she’s not making a good business decision, or maybe she is — either way, it’s her choice and that of those who choose to do business with her or not because of her beliefs. Colorado also had a choice. They could have respected both sides and worked as a fair mediator to balance Smith’s rights. The hypothetical couple could also find another person to make the website. In America today, many people would gladfully serve them.
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