A devastating new discovery has occurred in Searcy, Arkansas.
Life, it seems, is not fair.
The whistle has been blown. This earth-shattering news was discovered by an atheist who was upset when a local business offered a discount to people who bring in a church bulletin.
The atheist was offended. He/she was discriminated against. In a world where everyone gets a trophy just for showing up, This. Is. Not. Fair.
Here’s the rundown from the site, The Friendly Atheist.
The latest brouhaha involves Bailey’s Pizza in Searcy, Arkansas, where owner Stephen Rose will take 10% off your meal if you bring in a church bulletin (see above sign). But since that discriminates against non-Christians, the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent him a warning letter (on behalf of a local resident)…
…It’s not about a $0.45 discount. It’s about allowing a public business to give discounts to customers if they promote one particular religion. It also wouldn’t be okay, by the way, to give discounts to customers who said “God is dead” when they walked through the doors.
If Rose really wants to help out his customers, there are plenty of easy fixes: He could just give the discount to everybody. He could give the discount to anyone who brings in a bulletin from *any* religious or non-religious service. He could also just calm down and stop acting like he’s the victim of some atheist “attack” — that’s the actual word used in the New York Daily News headline.
Aw, muffin….you must be so upset. It just isn’t fair that a free market allows business owners to deem what they want to do with their own businesses. My goodness. The people in the world today, thinking they can do whatever they want like that, without worrying about offending someone. /end sarcastic sympathetic mom voice/
A free market is a market system in which the prices for goods and services are set freely by consent between sellers and consumers, in which the laws and forces ofsupply and demand are free from any intervention by a government, price-setting monopoly, or other authority. (Wikipedia)
I’m offended that these people are offended. I’m offended that the solution to anything that hurts someone’s feelings is “They are discriminating against me because of bla bla bla and I demand my rights” instead of “Well, that person is a jerk so I will not support their business with my dollars.” For the record, I’m also offended by the word “offended” and it’s vast overuse in America by people who whine about every-darned-thing.
Give me a break. Suck it up, Buttercup.
Life is not fair. Accept it. Move on.
When you own a business you should be able to give discounts to whomever you choose. Let the free market 
decide if you’re right or wrong. If you’re wrong, people won’t do business with you and your bank account will suffer. Why does everything require this idiotic political correctness?
I’ll tell you why.
Because we live in a world that has cushioned people to such a stunning degree that everyone grows up thinking that life will be fair.
That they are special and unique little snowflakes.
That they deserved to be coddled.
That they showed up at the game so they should, by golly, get a trophy.
That they are entitled to have access to every single privilege offered to others, even if they haven’t earned it.
Back to the church bulletin discount.
Using this logic, isn’t my mother’s AARP discount discriminatory and ageist? How come she gets a discount just because she’s older than me? That’s not fair!
Isn’t ladies’ night at the local bar discriminatory and sexist? Why do all of those chicks get half price drinks when men have to pay full price? That’s not fair!
The Friendly Atheist assures us those things are totally different, but his argument seems pretty weak.
In case you’re curious, what Rose is doing is very different from senior citizens discounts (which are legal because it’s not actually about age discrimination) and ladies’ nights (which are legal in most states for reasons that have nothing to do with gender discrimination). Rose says he also offers discounts to police officers, military personnel, etc. All of those things are fine. What he can’t do is charge atheist cops a higher price than Christian cops — and that’s effectively what he’s doing with his current discount.
So, according to that argument, it’s discrimination because….ummm…oh, well, no real reason.
In reality, aren’t the atheists discriminating against the Christians who are discriminating against the atheists who are…wait, this is getting kind of silly. False cries of discrimination are usually silly. They get in the way of anyone taking REAL claims of discriminatory actions seriously.
Freedom From Religion Foundation claims that Bailey’s Pizza’s action is discriminatory because of the Civil Rights Act of 1965, which requires business to offer services regardless of race, color, religion or national origin.
But the pizza shop is not denying service to anyone. They aren’t saying that only Christians can dine at their establishment. No one is being forced to sit in the back of the bus or drink from another water fountain. They are offering a discount and they have every right to do so in their own business.
The First Amendment to the Constitution – the whole reason the country was founded in the first place – supports the restaurant’s right to allow their faith a place in their business dealings:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The Constitution trumps the whiny “It’s not faaaaiiiirrr” mentality of the FFRF.
To those who are “offended”, exercise your freedom. If you don’t like it, get your pizza somewhere else.
hat tip to JG
Resources:
Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians
Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for a Free Economy
The Global War on Christians: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution
Life Is Not Fair…: And Everything Else They Forget to Teach in School
Blood on the Altar: The Coming War Between Christian vs. Christian
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
One nation under God
One nation UNDER GOD
you snivveling FFR people can go screw yourselves
I’m not Christian, but I have no problem with the company giving discounts to whoever it wants. I offer discounts on my art, too, for whatever reason I feel like at the time. If I choose to give discounts to people with amusing license plates, or to people with German shepherd dogs, that’s my business. People who don’t have funny license plates and people with bulldogs or cats are just out of luck until I decide to change discounts.
That being said, such a restaurant’s sign would probably deter me from entering in the first place. **shrugs** Meh. I don’t need someone else’s religion shoved in my face when I’m just trying to shove pizza into my mouth. (But as another thought: What was stopping the atheist from gettting a church bulletin? I thought those kinds of things were given out freely, on the off chance that someone might actually take an interest in the church in question?)
As for the Pledge of Allegiance…. Well, “Under God” was added later. I do say the Pledge, and I object to anyone who DOESN’T say it in this country (you’re here… if you don’t want to say the Pledge, then GET OUT), but when I say it, I just pause at the “Under God” part and then continue with everyone else, or else I say “Under Gods” (because I actually relate to the Divine by addressing a few of His/Her various personalities… And truly, how the Divine chooses to reveal Himself or Herself to a person is between the Divine and that person, and no one else).
Militant atheists are the most ironic people on the planet. We get it. You don’t believe in God. Your non-belief is like a super power. Can we talk about something else now? I will personally buy these folks a pizza if they’ll just move on.
If I ever open a business of my own, I think I shall give discounts to Pastafarians. Because I can. So I will.
The problem with all this offending is that people think their feelings are all important. I guess they are, but nobody’s feelings are more important that mine, and mine aren’t more important than somebody else’s. How annoying to walk on eggshells.
so how is this different from grocery reward cards? legal hint: they can’t advertise those prices without offering an out. so the legal gist is when you shop at a store where you don’t have a card–or don’t want one–request a guest swipe. If you ASK for it, you have to be provided it (it’s how they get around the advertising fraud laws). But if you don’t ask, they can charge you the higher price…oh and they don’t have to advertise this little work around either. which they don’t.
that said, if that pizza is any good, the black market on church bulletins in arkansas is gonna go up….psssst, you an atheist? I gotta a church bulletin right here for ya…you want catholic, protestant, unitarian, quaker? I got everythin’ I tell ya
Well, look for the atheist to sue the pizza parlor. It’s what they do – over something they claim doesn’t even exist. Don’t those guys have anything else to do with their time?
I find it hilarious that the first thing out of atheist’s mouths about any subject is some variation of “People who believe in god are stupid. There is no god. I’m sick of religious people shoving their opinion down our throats!”
…Um… Okay. I didn’t say anything about religion. It was a Youtube video about elephants… o.O Shouldn’t they look in a mirror?
As far as I’m concerned, I’ll respect your belief, and I expect you to respect mine.
As far as the discount, how does he know there won’t be an atheist night next week? Even if there isn’t, I’m sure he/she gives deals to his/her friends all the time. What’s the difference? Just because the pizza shop advertised that practice means nothing.
It’s not so much an expectation of the world to be fair. It’s an “I want what I what, and I want it now” attitude.
This guy isn’t concerned about equality. He just wants to further his cause against God.
The first person to point the finger is usually the one who’s trying to hide behind it.