Businesses should have the right to refuse service.

The "fast-paced world that we currently live in" argument is similar to the argument I heard at the beginning of the "Great Recession." In 2008, there was a person on CNBC that was trying to explain that the world was so fast paced at that time that a recession would only take a few days. I thought at the time, it sure would be nice if that fellow were right, but the length of the lines I was seeing at the CoinStar machines indicated that he was incorrect. The confederate flag has taken 150 years to be considered a real issue. Racism is still a huge problem in our nation. Segregation is still a huge problem in the South (I am a white Southerner). As an aside to our debate, I will say that the memory of the Old South should be pushed into the same dusty corner of a museum as Nazi Germany. Erin Burnett (on CNN) questioned if we were going too far with the confederate flag. I say we have not gone far enough until every symbol of that treasonous and racist rebellion is removed from any government installation anywhere. This most certainly includes the naming of some of our American military bases after confederate generals! Therefore, on some issues, we have seen short sprints (the confederate flag), but that is simply another example of herd mentality. While herd mentality is sometimes good, there is always a problem when people are not thinking their positions through. There is no place for symbols of the old confederacy within our government. On the other hand, issues such as gay marriage (the Supreme Court decided correctly) are sometimes handled incorrectly. While it is difficult to admit being aligned with a Republican on any issue, I do certainly hope that Indiana Governor Mike Pence ensured the rights of religious freedom through making sure that a person would be able to refuse to work a "gay wedding" if it were against the person"s religious views. It is important that everyone have his or her rights protected. I often say that "compassion without logic often leads to folly, but logic with no compassion often leads to pure evil; I would prefer to err on the side of compassion." The point is, we should consider our actions and positions closely to make sure everyone's rights are being protected. If we are not sure, it is best to take the most compassionate approach. This careful consideration at every point is the best way to avoid "slippery slopes," not over-simplified rules. Now, to the part about the rights of the people who "build the business from the ground up having every right to say who they serve," these people are not actually building their business from the ground up. They build their businesses on a foundation that is the infrastructure that has been provided by the American taxpayer. In the example of a restaurant (as Ollie"s Barbeque mentioned in the first round), the restaurant uses the American interstate highway system to have food delivered. Customers get to the restaurant on streets built by the government. Other people have helped the business owner. An example of another helper for the business owner would be a loan officer at a federally insured bank. Everything that anyone builds within a business is built upon the infrastructure provided by both the American government and American society. It is sadly arrogant for a person to boast as if they did "everything" themselves. I have built a successful business myself and the work was extremely hard and the hours were very long, but I realize that I had a lot of help from others and I am humbly grateful for their help. In my last post, I said that "reasonable" is determined by what society says is "reasonable." I will amend that now; to say "reasonable" is what society says is "reasonable" unless modified by the Courts. The independence of the Courts from the aforementioned "herd mentality" often increases a Courts chances of being correct. The Courts are not always correct. Therefore, how do we ensure that our government always gets things right, within our system of checks and balances? We debate the issues within public forums such as this in hopes of building the popular consensus that can push policy in the right direction. Only through such multi-sided arguments can a well thought out consensus be reached. I have enjoyed the debate. Can we add another round????