Sally Kohn's latest creation for Talking Points Memo argues that government doesn't force anyone to do anything -- it's all just laws, choices, and consequences.
Its title is "Hey, Christian Business Owners: The Government Isn't 'Forcing' You To Do Anything."
Here's how the piece begins:
You may have heard that the government is forcing businesses not to discriminate. It isn’t. If you chose to run a business, you have to follow the laws. If you don’t, that’s a choice—and you choose to suffer the consequences.
The government isn’t forcing [a] business to do anything other than follow the law. Which is what we expect of all businesses, equally.
Kohn then states that the issue of government force "is a funny one." She backs up her claim by stating that a police officer isn't "literally" holding a gun to a driver's head and making them go the speed limit, or even wear a seatbelt. They are free, she reasons, to speed without a seatbelt -- but there are consequences if pulled over.
"Is the threat of the fine for breaking the law amount to 'forcing' you to follow the law?" Kohn asks before answering her own question with the expected "no."
Beyond that, Kohn furthers, the government isn't even forcing you to drive in the first place. You can just choose another form of transportation if you don't like following the rules.
Kohn concludes:
This all seems simple when we talk about driving, but somehow a fringe set of rightwing conservatives want us all to believe that hapless business owners are somehow being forced, against their will, to serve pizza to gay people. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you don’t want to serve pizza to gay people, by all means, don’t—which, by the way, is legal in Indiana and 28 other states, but even where it is illegal, you’re still free to do so and deal with the consequences of breaking the law. That, pizza shop owner, is your choice. And if you don’t want to deal with those consequences, well, no one is forcing you to be in the pizza business. You’re free to do something else.
No one is forcing businesses… to start a business to begin with nor forcing you to do so in a state with non-discrimination laws or in the United States to begin with.
Don’t like following the laws that apply to businesses—including serving all customers equally? Then don’t start a business. That’s your choice.
Twitchy.com compiled several great reactions to Kohn's logic. Read a few below from those who called her out on Twitter:
