1. Welcome to Baptist Board, a friendly forum to discuss the Baptist Faith in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to all the features that our community has to offer.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!

Is this the right question?

Discussion in 'News & Current Events' started by rlvaughn, Jun 21, 2017.

  1. rlvaughn

    rlvaughn Well-Known Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2001
    Messages:
    10,544
    Likes Received:
    1,558
    Faith:
    Baptist
    ThinkProgress is touting a new survey that claims Christians disagree with the religious right on refusing to serve LGBTQ people. More detail on the survey is HERE.

    61 percent of the people surveyed did not believe a business owner should be allowed to refuse to provide products or services to homosexuals, based on the business owner's religious beliefs. Here was the question:
    Does this question properly distinguish the real issue in order to get a good poll of what people really think about this?
     
  2. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2006
    Messages:
    52,013
    Likes Received:
    3,649
    Faith:
    Baptist
    I would like to know more about these "Christians" before I could deem the study realistic.
     
  3. Covenanter

    Covenanter Well-Known Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Feb 8, 2017
    Messages:
    2,206
    Likes Received:
    526
    Faith:
    Baptist
    Depends what sort of products.

    Obviously Christians should be free to refuse to supply a "wedding" cake or printed invitations, etc, with explicit words - note the clause in the question:
    ".... if doing so violates their religious beliefs?"​

    There should be no problem with general merchandise (including condoms).

    LBGs should as far as possible be treated as normal people, but if they flaunt their sexuality, we should turn away.

    However there are plenty of "straight" sexual sinners.
     
  4. rlvaughn

    rlvaughn Well-Known Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2001
    Messages:
    10,544
    Likes Received:
    1,558
    Faith:
    Baptist
    Right. This is why I think the question is deficient. It doesn't clearly distinguish between someone walking into the store to buy a product, etc., and requiring use of creative talent that would make a person feel they are participating in something that violates his or her conscience.

    I fear that the question may have deliberately blurred that distinction in order to puff the numbers. (But that's just an uninvestigated feeling.)
     
  5. rlvaughn

    rlvaughn Well-Known Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2001
    Messages:
    10,544
    Likes Received:
    1,558
    Faith:
    Baptist
    The PRRI web site (linked above) may explain it, but my guess is they are just anybody who self-identifies as Christian or they asked them their church affiliation. (There must be a least some of the latter, because I see they have some breakdowns of Protestant, Catholic and Mormon.)
     
  6. Revmitchell

    Revmitchell Well-Known Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2006
    Messages:
    52,013
    Likes Received:
    3,649
    Faith:
    Baptist
    One of the problems I have always had to Barna's surveys is that they are inclusive of people who never go to church and never are involved in anything meaningful in church. Likely not Christians at all.
     
  7. InTheLight

    InTheLight Well-Known Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Dec 17, 2010
    Messages:
    24,988
    Likes Received:
    2,268
    Faith:
    Baptist
    1. I don't know why the question was limited to small businesses.
    2. It's worded with a bias. A better way to word it might be:

    Should Christian business owners be forced to provide products or services to gay or lesbians if it violates their religious beliefs?
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  8. rlvaughn

    rlvaughn Well-Known Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2001
    Messages:
    10,544
    Likes Received:
    1,558
    Faith:
    Baptist
    I was uncertain about that as well. Maybe they are thinking large companies don't have one owner so wouldn't have a particular religious belief?
     
  9. Rob_BW

    Rob_BW Well-Known Member
    Site Supporter

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2015
    Messages:
    4,320
    Likes Received:
    1,242
    Faith:
    Baptist
    Exactly.
     
Loading...