Discrimination, religion, and Bigotry

2 Credit Hours

Should religious businesspeople, who feel morally obligated not to facilitate same-sex marriage, be exempted from antidiscrimination laws that protect gay people? This question draws together a number of different fields: religious liberty, antidiscrimination law, equal protection, free speech, statutory construction, and political philosophy. I'm working on a book manuscript that tries to pull these together. Opponents of such exemptions have argued that conservative condemnation of gay sex is as evil as racism and should likewise disqualify those who hold it from religious accommodations and even state funding. I argue that the racism analogy is sound, but that here as elsewhere, religion should be accommodated where this will not defeat the purposes of the law. Students who find this conclusion repellent are especially welcome, since I'm hoping to test the argument here. I require one reaction paper, attacking some claim that is made in one of the readings. It is due a week after the last class. I will provide comments and ask you to revise in light of them.