Posted on 09/11/2015 8:40:30 PM PDT by markomalley
Edited on 09/11/2015 8:46:51 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
The CEO of Office Depot apologized Friday to a suburban Chicago woman who said the company discriminated against her religious beliefs when its employees told her that making copies of an anti-abortion prayer violated company policy.
Maria Goldstein, who is Roman Catholic, asked the Office Depot in Schaumburg last month to make 500 copies of "A Prayer for Planned Parenthood."
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
So.....you are placing the printing of a religious flyer by a printing company jobber, in the same category as pornography? Which is also legal...BTW
I have a hard time wrapping my arms around that..
Pornography is not specifically protected in the first amendment but it has been argued at scotus to be so...yet religion is, and has been attacked by scotus via the gay ruling..
The world is mad..
Just make the copies like a copy center is supposed to do and shut up. If you see something obviously illegal call the cops.
Yes!
That’s ridiculous. A copy machine owner has rights, but that’s not really relevant here.
The First Amendment, again, offers free speech protection from government interference. It doesn’t guarantee that another private citizen has to provide you with a figurative bullhorn.
The cake baking issue is based on public accommodations, not freedom of speech.
“Office Depot and Office Max Merged.
Didn’t hear anything about Staples.”
Staples owns Office Depot, Office Max, and Quill. It’s a one world monopoly. Fyi....
They showed their true colors in their original statement.
(Guenevere, responding to a bunch of posts here, so if the post goes a little beyond the scope of responding strictly to you, please understand)
First of all, as others have noted, Office Depot is a horribly left-wing outfit. They are pro-sodomite, pro-infanticide, and pro-leftist on virtually every issue.
I recognize that this woman is a prolife Catholic and they refused to print a flyer that contained the following prolife prayer:
Lord of Life and Truth,
Your Providence guides the course of history.
You have conquered death
And have made us the People of Life.
You call us to fight the evil of abortion
And the forces that promote it.
We therefore ask you to grant wisdom and mercy to our nation.
Give our government leaders the courage
To put an end to the funding
Of the largest abortion business in the world.
Give all of us the courage to insist
That public funding only be used
For the protection and promotion of life
Rather than for its destruction.
Give us hopeful hearts and joyful spirits
As we continue to proclaim, celebrate, and serve
The Gospel of Life.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
I, personally, see nothing offensive in that prayer. Frankly, I can't see any reason why they wouldn't want to take the woman's money.
But all of that is irrelevant.
They are a private business (by that, I mean that they are not a government agency...I recognize they are publicly held) that has the right to set policies to establish what work they will and will not do and for whom they will do that work. If they opt to refuse to provide one or more services to GOP candidates, so be it. If they choose to refuse to make copies for Christian groups, OK.
It's also my choice to not spend a single penny there.
It's called "freedom of assembly."
It should also be the right of a Christian store to not do business with and not facilitate the production of propaganda for Wiccans, Satanists, Atheists, Sodomites, or Jihadis.
Having said that, this comes down to those blasted "public accommodation" laws that are in effect virtually everywhere.
The concept of "public accommodation" laws sound great. I shouldn't be blocked from buying something or receiving services from an outfit if I'm Jewish, because I'm white, or if I was a woman. Most of the minimally-informed people in the country only comprehend those laws to that level.
But the way that the details of those laws are written and, more importantly, the way they are enforced, is that a business is required to bend the way they do business to accommodate not the person but the whims of the person. So as a result, we have a baker who is forced to bake the cake, a photographer forced to take the pictures, or, most recently, the men's barbershop being forced to cut a woman's hair.
If a baker should not be forced to bake an objectionable cake, if a photographer should not be forced to take pictures at an objectionable event, if a barber should not be required to become a cosmetologist, then Office Depot shouldn't be forced to print materials that they find offensive (even if, in any reasonable world, the materials are perfectly innocuous).
The way that a conservative expresses disapproval is by not doing business with the offending company. In our world, the business would cease to be viable after a time.
The way that a leftist expresses disapproval is by bringing the full force of the government down on the company, compelling compliance.
Pull your head out.
Huh?
I think that went out with the Civil Rights Act and subsequent laws which are all probably unconstitutional.
Barry Goldwater’s objection to the Civil Rights Bill was that it included private property. There was an earlier bill under Eisenhower that excluded private property. Senate majority leader Johnson shut it down.
“What Depot did was despicable but I support their right to do it.”
Well said. Well said.
I support their right to do it and will exercise my right not to do business with them. These things should be handled in the marketplace.
Anti pro-life? It is time to take back the language. I will now call abortion supporters pro Death.
If it is proven that Islam faced no such restrictions there I am through with the whole lot of those stores.. someone said Staples owns Office Depot I believe.
But since in reality, they are not, then we need to demand across the board consistency. One or the other.
“It is not Staples’ rights “ Is Staples doing this as well as Office Depot?
Anyhow, Office Depot has the right to refuse business to anyone. Customers have the right to take their business elsewhere. Office Depot has the right to change their mind and policies, and then apologize if they recognize that they’re losing business. It works.
Certainly they had the right to do it, as I mentioned to them when I called them. And I have the right to never shop there again, which I mentioned is going to happen when I called them.
“As a prolife activist Catholic, I agree with you: private property rights are sacrosanct.”
Amen. Respecting property rights would go a long way in solving our problems. Freedom and property rights dictate that Office Depot has the right to do business and reject business as they see fit. So do bakers, barbers, inn keepers, etc., etc.
I stopped when they went to Happy Holiday signs.
IF you can’t Say MERRY CHRISTMAS I don’t shop you, ditto goes for all those anti gun signs. It is the only way to make your voice heard, is through their wallets or bottom line.
I agree completely...and a CEO who recognizes a huge problem that is brewing has a right to reverse his earlier support for denying the printing to rather sheepishly decide he is for it!!
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