Man files complaint against Pennsylvania restaurant over church bulletin promo

[So the Heroes Fall]

http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/681194_Atheist-files-complaint-over-restaurant-s-Sunday-promotion.html

I kind of want to compare the breakdown here to DU, which is full of people complaining that this is a violation of the Civil Rights Act and that anyone who disagrees is clearly some atheist-hating bigot, which I find pretty comical. Of course when confronted with the fact that an atheist can easily obtain a church bulletin without even attending church they'll just respond with something like "Why should they have to?" which isn't much of a legal argument.

But anyway no this isn't any more illegal than the strip clubs here that give free admission to people with same day sporting even ticket stubs, college IDs on college night, or the show I went to a few weeks ago that gave a discount on the cover to anyone wear the shirt of a local band.

[True Federalist]

If the restaurant refused to give the church bulletin discount when presented with the bulletin of the Lancaster Atheist Society or the like, then I'd say the complaint has some merit under the law, but as it is, the complaint is just a bunch of hot air.

[CathKhan]

In an ideal world, one would be able to determine without legal interference who shall receive certain deals. After all, it is the restaurant's property and they should (not necessarily can. Don't know all the legal ramifications) be able to decide what prices their food is. If that means that if you bring in a church bulletin you get a discount, that's perfectly acceptable. The restaurant owns the food and you don't have an intrinsic right to certain discounts or anything like that.

[dead0man]

Is this illegal discrimination?  No, of course not.  Are any of the "yes" votes going to defend their position or should we just assume it's all knee jerk hatred of anything religious?

[IDS Judicial Overlord John Dibble]

I'm going to say most likely it isn't. From what I've read it doesn't sound like the owner was intentionally being discriminatory, but rather just thought "hey, I know, I'll offer this discount to get more business on Sundays." You don't even have to be a believer to get a church bulletin - hell, you could probably fake one.

Now, if the owner refused to give the discount to someone who had a bulletin from a mosque or a synagogue then it would be discrimination, and likely illegal given what the laws are.

[So the Heroes Fall]

I'm going to say most likely it isn't. From what I've read it doesn't sound like the owner was intentionally being discriminatory, but rather just thought "hey, I know, I'll offer this discount to get more business on Sundays." You don't even have to be a believer to get a church bulletin - hell, you could probably fake one.

Now, if the owner refused to give the discount to someone who had a bulletin from a mosque or a synagogue then it would be discrimination, and likely illegal given what the laws are.

So you are smarter than atheists on DU.

[Bacon King]

No, this is silly. It's not like senior discounts are illegal age discrimination, or discounts to active military servicemembers are illegal discrimination based on veteran status, both of which are prevented by law. 

[Spanish Moss]

Is this illegal discrimination?  No, of course not.  Are any of the "yes" votes going to defend their position or should we just assume it's all knee jerk hatred of anything religious?

Considering I'm a Christian who "yes" voted, no, don't assume it's a knee jerk hatred of anything religious.

The intention of this promotion is clear - if you came from church, you don't have to pay as much - it is favoritism to the religious.  Sure, anyone can go grab a bulletin - but then what would be their motive behind the promotion, are they bulletin hoarders?

No, of course not.  They're purposely giving people a discount for being good church-goers, and yes there's the loophole of anyone can go grab one, but there's nothing they can do about that and they realize 99% of people with a bulletin probably actually went to church.  This is an intended form of discrimination against the a-religious, and to me doesn't hold up for that reason.

[TJ in Wisco]

No. The intention of the promotion isn't to get people to go to church, it's to get people who go to church to come to their restaurant. That's why businesses run promotions: to get customers to come.

[Senator Snowstalker]

Hey, news from my county!

[Spanish Moss]

No. The intention of the promotion isn't to get people to go to church, it's to get people who go to church to come to their restaurant. That's why businesses run promotions: to get customers to come.

Yes, but it's something that favors people with a certain belief set over those who don't have a certain belief set, and I find that discriminatory.  There are plenty of other ways to do a promotion that have nothing to do with who the person is.

[TJ in Wisco]

No. The intention of the promotion isn't to get people to go to church, it's to get people who go to church to come to their restaurant. That's why businesses run promotions: to get customers to come.

Yes, but it's something that favors people with a certain belief set over those who don't have a certain belief set, and I find that discriminatory.  There are plenty of other ways to do a promotion that have nothing to do with who the person is.

By that logic, isn't discriminatory to have promotions like half price tickets if you have a student ID at the Cleveland Indians game? It discriminates against non-students. I'm not saying there aren't better promotions if our goal is equality (Though I refuse any claim that there are any better promotions than the Indians student ID night ), but do we really need to legally ban every discriminatory promotion as long as it's goal isn't discrimination?

[Vasall des Midas]

No. The intention of the promotion isn't to get people to go to church, it's to get people who go to church to come to their restaurant. That's why businesses run promotions: to get customers to come.

Best reply yet.

[Spanish Moss]

No. The intention of the promotion isn't to get people to go to church, it's to get people who go to church to come to their restaurant. That's why businesses run promotions: to get customers to come.

Yes, but it's something that favors people with a certain belief set over those who don't have a certain belief set, and I find that discriminatory.  There are plenty of other ways to do a promotion that have nothing to do with who the person is.

By that logic, isn't discriminatory to have promotions like half price tickets if you have a student ID at the Cleveland Indians game? It discriminates against non-students.

Actually, yes.  But why would anyone want to go to a Cleveland Indians game? :-P

[DC Al Fine]

No. The intention of the promotion isn't to get people to go to church, it's to get people who go to church to come to their restaurant. That's why businesses run promotions: to get customers to come.

Best reply yet.