GG has a question:
It might confound some of your detractors to find that I am a huge fan of yours. I am a 47 year old gay white male who is happily living with his partner. While I do not agree with many of your opinions, I always admire your logic. Logic is important to me. Your views and attitudes always have an internal logic that is consistent.
And so, I have a question that I would like to see you address.
If we all were to agree that homosexuality is a choice, and therefore not protected under law, should we not also agree that religion is a choice, and therefore not protected under law as well?
I must admit that I am quite comfortable with a system that allows employers and landlords to refuse me because I am gay, as long as I am allowed to refuse them because they are Christian. Your thoughts?
I agree entirely. You have no obligation to employ or rent to anyone, and you may refuse to contract with anyone for any reason you wish. I have the same right to reject doing business with a homosexual Packers fan that he has to reject doing business with a Christian Vikings supporter, and it doesn’t matter whether it is the sexual orientation, the religion or the sports affiliation that is the core reason.
That is what is known as the Freedom of Association, and its near-complete absence in the USA demonstrates very clearly that the American government no longer even pretends to govern lawfully.
I’m not quite sure how to address the first question. Is it a hypothetical question or a practical one based on a misconception of Constitutional law that is honored only by its breach? Assuming the former, I don’t think I agree. The protection of religion is not based on its being a matter of choice, (which it clearly is), since some choices are protected while others are not.
What GG appears to fail to grasp is that the protection of religion in the American structure, its special status, is both a protection of the state from the misapplication of religious corruption and the protection of religion from the temptation of the corruption of exercising temporal power.
Therefore, this matter simply has no comparable application to homosexuality or the vast majority of other human choices.