This Is Free Speech and Capitalism In Action
People are apparently for insulting our intelligence pretending that tolerating intolerance is required for ideological or philosophical purity or consistency. No. Tolerating intolerance is simply passive-aggressive intolerance; a means by which those who are bigoted can continue to be so without the risks of taking personal responsibility for their beliefs or actions.
Memories Pizza in Walkton, Indiana was the first establishment to make public their intentions to not cater to gays (later said they would), but made clear they would not cater gay weddings in response to Indiana’s newly enacted Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).The public at large appears to have taken issue with their position, and are responding strongly forcing Memories to shutdown. While I am always for protest and, recognize the effectiveness of riots, I think the response may have been over the top, but in the age of the internet and social media, reactionary and instantaneous are par for the course.
Free Speech and Capitalism
What we are seeing is a toxic mixture of the two. There is no law stopping someone who disagrees with a position to convince others not to go there even if it’s… This is also covered by free speech and subject to the same limitations. HBO’s Going Clear documentary showed how Scientology excels at playing this game and it is not pretty. It’s almost as ugly as the hypocrisy of those who most certainly support groups or entities that have engaged in it in the past, but now decry it.
This is the “invisible hand” of the free market working precisely as intended. Hell, this is a much better example of the free market in action than artificial pro-corporate scams of for-profit health care, education, and criminal justice. Supporters of Memories, their policy, and the new law have responded in kind. I also see no problem with this. It is unclear whether they will remain closed or not.