Letter | Refusing to serve groups is discrimination and shouldn’t be tolerated

Refusing to serve groupsshouldn’t be tolerated

Re: Kathleen Parker’s April 3 column “When it comes to laws on religion, freedom is a two-way street,” I disagree with her basic premise that we should be tolerant of people and businesses who practice discrimination because of their religious views.

To discriminate against certain groups — such as gays, blacks or women — as though the people in them are inferior human beings and therefore not entitled to the basic rights accorded others shouldn’t be tolerated for any reason. The bottom line is “discrimination is discrimination” and whether it is based on religious, racial or political views is irrelevant.

A more thoughtful column than Ms. Parker’s is in the April 3 New York Times Sunday Review titled “Bigotry, the Bible, and the Lessons of Indiana” online at http://nyti.ms/1Gs7ljm that I hope many will read and consider.

This story was originally published April 24, 2015 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Letter | Refusing to serve groups is discrimination and shouldn’t be tolerated."