Letter to the Editor: Bakery debate as abhorrent as racial debate 65 years ago

Mr. Fithian suggested in a letter published July 20th, that gay and lesbian citizens who are refused service at a bakery: “If one baker will not bake a cake for you, go to another baker.”

His advice is precisely the same advice that racists in the 1950s would have suggested to an interracial couple seeking a wedding cake. (In their estimation, God disapproved of blacks and whites marrying one another.) This advice was as abhorrent then as it is today.

Those opposed to interracial marriage in the 1950s, just like those opposed to same-sex marriage today, did so because of sincerely held religious beliefs. I have no doubt that their objections were held in earnest, but that is irrelevant; the fact that these beliefs were sincere makes them no less horrid. ISIS throws gays off of rooftops because of sincerely held religious beliefs – are these beliefs to be respected simply because they are sincerely held? Of course not! The fact that a detestable opinion is based on a religion doesn’t make that opinion exempt from criticism.

Forcing businesses to eliminate “whites only” restrictions during the 20th century was a good thing, and it definitely suppressed religious freedom: the freedom of religious business owners to publicly discriminate against blacks. Fair-minded Americans are glad that claiming “religious freedom” is not considered a valid excuse to discriminate against others.

Mike Mundy
Huntingburg, Ind.