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nce again honest, hardworking citizens are being persecuted for their religious beliefs. While it appears that some groups are free to practice their beliefs, others are threatened with boycotts, lawsuits, property seizure and even jail.

Such is the case with Barronelle Stutzman, a florist in Washington state who refused to sell a same sex couple flowers for their wedding. It seems that even though the people who preach tolerance the loudest have once again shown they are in fact the least tolerant when someone doesn’t agree with theirs. The gay lobby insists we treat their views equally yet they refuse to do the same when someone has different ones.

Stutzman is fighting for her belief that same-sex marriage is wrong. She believes in what the Bible teaches, that marriage is between a man and a woman and that one of the results of marriage is to have children. That is not the issue here, rather it is one of government controlling free enterprise, and forcing businesses to sell to people they don’t want to. It is a case of the government taking away both Stutzman’s religious beliefs and her right to serve who she wants. What the government doesn’t seem to get is the whole concept of free enterprise. If gays are so offended by Stutzman they don’t have to patronize her business. But no, that isn’t good enough, instead they have to force her to sell to them with threats and intimidations.

This is also a religious freedom issue. The State of Washington, contrary to their constitution, is violating Stutzman’s right to “freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment” as she states in a letter she has written to the state Attorney General. Her letter also gets it right when she says:

Your offer reveals that you don’t really understand me or what this conflict is all about. It’s about freedom, not money. I certainly don’t relish the idea of losing my business, my home, and everything else that your lawsuit threatens to take from my family, but my freedom to honor God in doing what I do best is more important.- Letter to Attorney General Bob Ferguson

In a press release, Ferguson responds with this:

“My primary goal has always been to bring about an end to the Defendants’ unlawful conduct and to make clear that I will not tolerate discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,” said Ferguson. – Ferguson Press Release

As you can see, Ferguson thinks it is okay to discriminate based on religion but not on sexual orientation. In other words, discrimination is only discrimination sometimes.

What intrigues me is why would they want to do business with someone who doesn’t want to do business with them? If it that much of an affront to them, don’t patronize the business, or any business who doesn’t want to sell to any group. Eventually, if enough people stop doing business with these couples, they will eventually have to close. It is as simple as that. Isn’t that what free enterprise is all about?

Unfortunately for the gay lobby, they are learning that someone like the 70 year old Stutzman may have more support than they would like to think. By threatening more and more small business owners they are beginning to anger enough people that they will patronize these businesses just to piss off the gays (or other) groups. I know when I ran a small business I would sell to anyone, I needed the money, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have the right to choose who I wanted to sell to.

If we think it is wrong for someone to discriminate against any group because of their religious beliefs, then we shouldn’t patronize that business, not threaten them with fines, jail time and seizure of their property. In the same regard, if we do believe that someone has a right to not violate their religious freedom by going against their beliefs, then we should support them. This is free enterprise in action.