The philosophy of the Constitution and Bill of Rights is that government only has powers that are openly enumerated. The remainder of powers are reserved to the States and the People.
When we sought to address the grievous mistreatment of blacks in the South, where they were denied even access to the necessities of life such as a place to go to the bathroom or a place to eat, we chose the path that ignored the founding principle of enumerated and limited powers.
In the rush to correct this problem, government did what government loves to do, which is to expand its power. We went down the path of declaring that a private business was somehow a “public accommodation”. This was done so that people could be declared to be a “protected class” and thus government in essence then could alienate the inalienable right of free association and private property from the business owner.
This was done by people who had far more faith in government than in how humans would respond to a properly crafted appeal to have compassion and respect for their fellow citizens. To illustrate this, can you imagine what would happen today if some business announced it would no longer serve some racial group? The public outrage would be so tremendous that government would never need to act to enforce the law. The business would either change or close due to lack of customers.
So we started down the road of allowing government to alienate the rights of the business owner. Of course, once a legal theory of expanded government power is approved by the courts, government immediately started to expand those powers ever more widely. While everyone would agree that all citizens of any race should enjoy their basic human rights, what happens when some government jurisdictions then move to include people such as gays as members of a class that deserves explicit protection?
When I was growing up in the 1950’s it was not uncommon to hear the rejoinder, “it is a free country.” I never hear this any more. Although nothing has changed in the Bill of Rights, I no longer can address any difference with another citizen by simply walking away peacefully, or simply and politely declining to conduct business with them. As a business owner, I can no longer say to a customer, I am sorry but I decline to offer my services to you. Please go elsewhere.
This is how we got from good intentions to allow blacks to use a rest room and a lunch counter to militant gays having the power of the state to force someone to perform services they fundamentally find offensive and violation of their conscience.
When gays rioted at the Stonewall Inn in NYC in 1969, all the media voices told us that gays just wanted to be left alone, that what they do in private is their private business. Besides, who wants to give government the power to regulate what consenting adults do? Well, the hard truth is that gays didn’t just want to be left alone. They really crave our approval and validation of their sexual orientation and sexual activities. I can never give that approval, for I take my morality from Scripture and God’s word is very very clear about sexual morality.
So, when Progressives insist that #LoveWins, they are willing to take society down this road. They would rather throw those who disagree in jail, than to allow them to withhold their acquiescence to this demand. #BakeTheCake or else!
Barry Goldwater was correct in his opposition and his reasoning.