Let us run a thought experiment to clarify a position that Mr. Linker espouses that, appears to me, to justify discrimination against the LGBT community
Relatively recently a new group of immigrants have come to North America and settled in the United States. These people, known as the Inbonis, have lived for thousands of years in the Amazon jungle never interacting with the outside world. They have a well established religion that dates back centuries and is encapsulated in the Sacred Text - a book that lays out the laws brought to them through revelation to legendary Inbonis figures by their all powerful monotheistic deity which roughly translates into English as "God."
The Inbonis are a pleasant and generally reasonable people. They have many similar prohibitions against murder, rape, theft and fraud in their culture that other cultures do. They believe in fair dealing, treating others with respect, and only using violence as a last resort.
They seek to live by their Sacred Text as best they can and consider perfection and beauty to be achieved when fully embracing the rules and principles detailed in the Sacred Text which primarily focus on being compassionate and performing good works while alive. After death the Inbonis believe they live on after being judged by God for their faith and conduct while alive. If they are judged to have lived a good life, as enumerated by the laws in the Sacred Text, their souls may live on in eternity with God and their loved ones in paradise.
But the Inbonis also have one somewhat unique prohibition - it is forbidden to be left handed.
Being left handed is explicitly banned in the Sacred Text. Examples: "For if one wants to be a child of God, they must praise him with their right hand high." "To sit by God's right hand in his great house in the after-life his people shall favor their right hands for labor and worship." "No child of light shall favor the left hand, that is the way to darkness." "And if a man favor his left hand, as with his right, he shall have committed abomination: he shall surely be put to death." There is little doubt left handedness is forbidden.
It is said that at one time someone showing favor for their left hand, even once, would receive a death sentence among the Inbonis. But relatively recently in their long history a majority of Inbonis, including those in their clergy, emphasize other parts of the Sacred Text that highlight God's instructions to forgive those who have made mistakes and committed wrongs.
Therefore, the common cultural practice among the Inbonis today is to merely banish those who refuse to renounce the practice of favoring their left hands. The Inbonis clergy reasonably point out that it is possible for those who favor their left hand to live and work favoring their right hand even though it may not be their natural preference. Inbonis caught favoring their left hands are given numerous opportunities to be forgiven if they atone for their immoral behavior and promise to become right handed.
After the Inbonis immigrated to North America and decided to settle in the United States they promised to follow all laws and be good American citizens. By all accounts they have been - serving their communities with charitable acts, protecting freedom in the armed forces, and finding no difficulty in following most laws and customs in America - except for one, the open and horrifying toleration for left handedness.
The sight of the left handed living and working in and around their communities has caused disgust and distress among the Inbonis. The open display of left handedness on television and the internet creates havoc in Inbonis homes as faithful Inbonis parents agonize over preventing their children from seeing images of the left handed. The seemingly endless assault on their religion and culture has led the Inbonis to flee to more insulated communities where the mainstream American culture of pervasive toleration of left handedness can not poison their children's minds and jeopardize their eternal souls.
The Inbonis community worry that if Inbonis children are exposed to a culture that says being left handed is acceptable more Inbonis may become left handed and lose their opportunity to live within the Ibonis community as well as join God in the afterlife. Not only might families break apart, but otherwise good men and women will lose their chance to pass judgement by God and live forever in paradise.
The stakes could not be higher.
So today the Inbonis are going on the offensive to save their faith, community and families. They are now the majority of the population in the state of Wyoming. The majority of legislators and the governor of the state have been elected running on Inbonis values especially the threat of left handedness. The "Raise Your Right Hand" slate swept the polls last election cycle and has now passed a law to restrict the left handed.
The new law will allow any individual, group, or private business to refuse to serve the left handed if “it would be contrary to their sincerely held religious beliefs.” Private employers can continue to fire left handed employees on account of their being left handed. Stores may deny the left handed goods and services because they are left handed. Hotels can eject the left handed or deny them entry in the first place. Businesses that provide public accommodations—movie theaters, restaurants—can turn away the left handed at the door. And if someone who is left handed sues for discrimination, they won’t just lose; they’ll be forced to pay their opponent’s attorney’s fees.
While some in the Inbonis community believe the law goes too far many do agree on general principle that the Inbonis have the right to protect their "religious liberty" and not be forced to accept the left handed into their community against their will.
After all, the Sacred Text could not be clearer that being left handed is wrong and not to be tolerated by all faithful Inbonis people. This is a tradition that goes back hundreds of years and is integral to the culture and history of the Inbonis people.
So, one might ask Mr. Linker, why shouldn't the Inbonis be able to discriminate against the left handed?
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