General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Todd Starnes: ministers who don't perform gay weddings should prepare for hate crimes charges [View all]PRB
(139 posts)nitpicked you on Brown. I'm sure you're well aware of that as an attorney (maybe the case even started in 52).
Anyway, the separate but equal is what some were trying to push. They were saying for years that gays had the same equality, but defined it differently when two people were united in matrimony.
And I still see too many parallels between a church that can discriminate and a business (bakery) that can't. Both offer a good or service. Both are open to the public. Yes, a church is open to the public, despite some seeing it as a closed institution. You can pretty much anonymously walk in any church on Sunday, listen (and maybe benefit) from a sermon (at no cost), learn something else, etc. Yes, people might start to interact with you, but you can avoid that by going to a large church or a historic church and standing in the back. I've actually known people who have done that.
Yes, you can go to a church and ask to have a ritual performed without being a member. I actually did that when a family member died and they had no church. Rules and etiquette vary, from a minister expecting/accepting a stipend, to the church more formally asking for a fee. This is a paid service that is really not different from a baker, at least in terms of money exchanged for good/service.
I see things more in terms of nuance. Yes, a bakery is obviously different from a church; however, in the grand scheme of things, both provide a good/service with some compensation expected in return. The church refusing gays on doctrine are really not that much different than a baker declining based on the same doctrine.