Thursday letters: Why let Christians discriminate?

I see that state Sen. Lee Bright believes that those with deeply held religious convictions should be able to discriminate by denying services to certain people. But that’s OK, because, in his words, “there are going to be folks out there that will provide those services.” In Columbia or Charleston, maybe, but in rural areas, if the only local provider of a service chooses to deny it, that would impose an undue burden on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens, requiring a long trip elsewhere.

Further, what of those who have deeply held religious beliefs that want to discriminate based on race? Or against other religions? If a business wanted to discriminate against those who are openly Christian, would Sen. Bright be fine with that? Or is it his view that religion should be hypocritically allowed to discriminate but not be discriminated against?

Prosperity

This story was originally published April 8, 2015 at 7:30 PM with the headline "Thursday letters: Why let Christians discriminate?."