And Mormons shouldn't be bartenders

Bel was thinking about a Daily Mail article:

A Muslim store worker at Marks & Spencer refused to serve a customer buying a children's book on biblical stories because she said it was "unclean".

Sally Friday, a customer at a branch of one of the famous stores, felt publicly humiliated when she tried to pay for First Bible Stories as a gift for her young grandson.

When the grandmother put the book on the counter, the assistant refused to touch it, declared it was unclean and then summoned another member of staff to deal with the purchase.

Um, if your place of employment has so-called "unclean" books, then why did you accept a job there?

Which brings me to The Pitt News.

Target is empowering their employees with the choice to refuse to sell emergency contraception to customers if it runs against their religious beliefs.

And what's even more of an abomination is that this "right to refuse" at the expense of someone else is not specific to emergency contraception; it involves practically anything an employee could muster as long as it conflicts with his or her religion.

Will Mormon bartenders soon refuse to sell liquor during happy hour because of their sentiments regarding prohibition?

Comments? They got 'em:

Is it so absurd that a private business be allowed to make its own regulations concerning how employees engage in the sale of anything? It's not like Target is committing some sort of crime. It's their right to establish the conditions of an employee's contract, not yours. Oh save us if a corporation actually chooses to be somewhat considerate to its employees' beliefs--we can't have people actually practicing their faith, after all, that's offensive.

One fallacy is the claim that these employees are engaging in discrimination....Choosing not to provide the drugs due to religious beliefs seems to be equal across the board, thus there is absolutely no discrimination.

And the argument about a Mormon bartender not selling booze during happy hour because of his views of prohibition--would he even try to get a job as a bartender in the first place, considering that the whole job centers around serving liquor? Providing instant abortion pills isn't the only role of a pharmacist.

And the selling of Christian books isn't the only role of a secular bookseller. But if I were a bookseller or pharmacist, and even a small part of my job conflicted with my beliefs, I'd have to think long and hard about whether I would take the job in the first place.

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