I read this article today that really ruffled my feathers. For those of you not willing to read it, the article informs us that eHarmony, an online dating service for anyone to use, though created by those who claim Christianity (whether they are or not is not the issue to be dealt with here; I'm just trying to share what I do know, and not pretending to know what I don't), is settling a lawsuit that a New Jersey man filed against them because they didn't offer a choice for him, that choice being 'men seeking men.' There are two big problems that I want to address here, and if they're not obvious to you, let me make them clear. I'm not suggesting there aren't other problems, but just two that I want to address.
The first is more political in nature. eHarmony is a business. It seeks to help people find others that they could potentially date and maybe even marry that they may never have met otherwise through the wonders of the internet. They provide this service to its customers at a price, in hopes to turn a profit. Now, I know there are a lot of things that I may not understand about this case in particular, but if I'm wrong here, I wish those presenting us with the news would give more detail, because the lawsuit itself seems utterly ridiculous.
I work for a music store. It's a business, of course, and we provide products and services related to music at a price in hopes to profit, as any business does. But what would you say if I told you that a person walked into our store one day and said, "Do you carry karyoke machines?" Our reply would be "No, sorry, we don't." This sounds like a conversation that would happen fairly often. Maybe not over the exact item, but it happens on a regular basis that we must tell people that we don't carry certain products. But what if the conversation continued with the customer saying, "Well, I guess I'm going to have to sue you for discriminating against karyoke singers. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves...see you in court!" The customer can't do that. Why? Because as a business, we have every right to sell whatever we want. You can't tell us that we have to sell karyoke machines if we don't want to sell karyoke machines. But this is exactly what has happened to eHarmony. There are plenty of other places I'm sure this New Jersey man could have gone to seek men. But instead, he thought he'd sue, and now gets $50,000 and is looking forward to utilizing the new service that will be offered by eHarmony for men seeking men and women seeking women.
This brings me to my second point. In the face of such a ridiculous claim, why is eHarmony the one that is folding (not closing up shop, folding, but compromising, folding)? Again, I don't know any more than this article stated, but not only do they have a right as a business to sell whatever services they want, but as Christians, should they not be standing up for the truth of the Word of God inspite of whatever "punishment" may come their way? I also know it's easy for me to sit here behind my computer and say this, but I pray that I won't compromise the truth of God's Word in the face of persecution.
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2 comments:
I read that article, too, yesterday. Sigh. In the words of Saint James, "These things ought not be."
The argument from the homosexual side is "This is discrimination! It's a violation of our civil rights! It's illegal!" I have never figured out what private business is not allowed to discriminate about what they will or will not do. Still, I understand that this isn't the way it works. Besides, they do aim at marriage, and marriage (in New Jersey too) is defined as a man and a woman. Why would they be required to provide a service aimed at producing an illegal activity?
You know what's coming next (or, in fact, has already occurred, but got shot down). They will sue because churches refuse to hire them. In the future (not too distant, I suspect) this will hit the courts and the courts will side with the complainant, not the churches.
You said, "Why is eHarmony the one that is folding (not closing up shop, folding, but compromising, folding)?" In fact, if I were eHarmony or any business at all, given the choice of violate my conscience or go out of business, I would fold ... fold up shop. If I was a church and was told "You have to hire those who violate your principles," I'd be forced to fire everyone and go to a volunteer basis. (It's similar to "Choose Christ or choose the lions," isn't it?)
Christians in America do not quite have the knack of "Stand on principle." We think, "If we're right, there should be no consequences." The early Church thought, "We're right and we'll take the consequences." Big difference.
Okay, Ryan ... time to write some more blog posts ... ;)