As is clear from my posting history, I am a lurker on DailyKos. But today, the actions of the Supreme Court and commentary about Sarah Huckabee Sanders being denied service at the Red Hen Restaurant has moved me to write. The problem with ethics is that it forces you to takes positions that are very uncomfortable. It saddens me to see so many people on this site celebrating the denial of service to Ms. Sanders which, no matter how much I personally “enjoyed” the owners actions, was ethically wrong. While I would support the owners actions as civil disobedience (the very nature of civil disobedience is that the action is “against” the law and will have negative consequences, usually in a legal sense), I do not see most people on this site recognizing that the actions of denial of service should be viewed as illegal. I personally feel that individuals in the service industry do not have right to decide who they will serve and who they will not serve serve. As such, the owner of the Red Hen could have used their First Amendment right to tell Ms. Sanders their opinion of her actions, but should have served her anyway.
The reason it upsets me that people are celebrating inappropriately over the events at the Red Hen is clearly illustrated by the two decisions in the past week by the Supreme Court on the rights of people in the service industry to deny service on the ground of religious conviction (moral outrage.) The only ethically consistent position for anyone who supports the Court’s decision would be to celebrate the actions of the owner of the Red Hen. Of course, I will be dead before anyone (OK, most) in the Trump Administration or the Republican Party show ethical consistency. Most of them are celebrating the Court’s decision and condemning the owner of the Red Hen. Unfortunately, business as usual with them
I must hold myself to higher standards. As I STRONGLY disagree with the Court’s ruling, I can’t support and celebrate the actions of the owner of the Red Hen, unless they were willing to accept any legal consequences that may occur. Then I can view the actions as civil disobedience. Clearly the baker and the florist in the Court cases wanted to avoid any legal repercussions of their actions. They wanted and got the the right to legally discriminate against a class of humans.
Ethically, I see no problem having a meal at the Red Hen the next time I am in Washington. I hear the food is very good and they take excellent care to make sure all of their food is store and cooked in an appropriate manner.