Becuase they're poorly written. Under the Arizona law as passed, any person can deny any services to anyone for any reason so long as they claim it violates their religious beliefs.
Some years back, it was not unusual to see a sign posted near or in the entry of food establishments that read:” We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.”
Also : “No shirt, no shoes, no service.Those days have been swept into the dustbin of PCness.
So? Why shouldn’t a private business be able to serve those they want?
Let’s be honest, anyone can refuse service to anyone if they come up with a legal reason, e.g., “I didn’t like his attitude.”
What these bills do is help religious people avoid lawsuits by homosexual activists who are trying to outlaw religion.
It's worse that that. An employee could make up a cockamamie "relgious" excuse for goofing off all day and nobody would be able to do anything about it.
Why shouldn’t any private citizen be allowed the freedom of association, including those he does business with?
“Under the Arizona law as passed, any person can deny any services to anyone for any reason so long as they claim it violates their religious beliefs. “
No. The religious objection has to be founded in some genuine religious belief. Someone cannot say, “I belong to the “Hate Blacks Church” and deny service to blacks.
Furthermore, it expressly allows:
“C. State action may substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion only if it the opposing party demonstrates that application of the burden to the person’s exercise of religion in this particular instance is both:
1. In furtherance of a compelling governmental interest.
2. The least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.”
http://legiscan.com/AZ/text/SB1062/id/912244
“Section 41-1493 of the Arizona Revised Statutes regulates who can claim religious freedom or exercise thereof as a defense in a lawsuit. AB 1062 revises that law by expanding the definition of who is a person to “any individual, association, partnership, corporation, church, religious assembly or institution, estate, trust, foundation or other legal entity”,[4] and allows for religious-freedom lawsuits “regardless of whether the government is a party to the proceeding.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_SB_1062