Court Ruling on Religious Objections

Via Dispatches, the US 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled on one of those asshole pharmacists who claim they shouldn't have to fill prescriptions for birth control pills because they have religious objections to birth control.

But this fucker was really up on his high horse: Wal-Mart tried to accomodate what this guy thinks a magic sky fairy wants from him by allowing him to only assist male customers or female customers not of child-bearing age, reducing the chance he would even be asked to fill a birth-control prescription. But that accomodation -- which Wal-Mart, much as I hate them, shouldn't have to make in the first place -- wasn't enough for Fuckstick McFuckerson. No. He thought he shouldn't have to work the counter or answer phones at all unless the customers were pre-screened by other workers!

That's right. His delicate religious sensibilities are such that he thought he shouldn't even have to risk coming into contact with the pure evil of a woman who has the nerve to take control of her own reproductive health. And get this: When he answered phone calls asking about birth control, this fuckwad would put the customer on hold and not tell anyone else about the call so that the customer wouldn't get served.

Fuck this guy. The 7th Circuit ruled appropriately, as far as it goes, in saying that Wal-Mart had indeed attempted to make reasonable accomodation for this guy's beliefs, but the what this guy wanted was an undue burden on his employer. But they didn't go far enough, in my opinion. Why the hell should Wal-Mart have to accomodate this guy's beliefs at all? I still don't understand by what right this guy can choose a profession that has duties -- to dispense medications, one of which is birth control pills -- that conflicts with his religious beliefs and then expect his employer to accomodate his choice. I mean, he didn't have to become a pharmacist, and moreover, he could have found some Christian pharmacy to work at where he wouldn't have to dispense birth control pills or at least some place willing to accomodate his extreme requirements. But he didn't. So fuck him.

Civil rights are a big deal to me, but I just don't see this as a violation of this guy's rights. And it's not just because it's a religious objection, either. I support equal rights for gays and lesbians, and I think they should be protected from discrimination based on sexual preference. But I don't think a gay or lesbian should be able to become, say, a priest in a church opposed to same-sex relationships then expect to be "accomodated" by not having to pastor to anyone who might say something mean about gays or lesbians. Dealing with people who oppose homosexuality would be part of the job in that case, just like dealing with those seeking birth control is part of a pharmacist's job, and in both cases the person shouldn't choose a job that has duties that conflict with his or beliefs or sexual orientation.

Fuck this guy. Wal-Mart should have been allowed to and should have fired him the first time he refused to serve a customer and that's the end of it, in my opinion.