Quote Originally Posted by Draco View Post
I haven't been properly following your posts to other users. But it's good to see that the US still allows a degree of freedom. I'd hate to see it end up like the UK.
Even if it's allowing maniacs to establish a 'Church of Jesus Christ Aryan Nations' compound: http://theoatmeal.com/blog/bus (the first part of the blog talks about them). Couldn't believe such people still exist, but out of a population of 300 million, there's bound to be a few awry types.
Freedom to exclude, or discriminate....yes that still exists in the US. (That's why I think Enoch is barking up the wrong tree in his argument.)

In regards to the examples you listed, what if the exact same scenario happened in the US with the Christian hotel owners in the UK? Would the owners be penalised? Or would they be protected by the many religious politicians?
We don't have nationally recognized same-sex marriage rights, let alone protections for sexual orientation. Some states have laws prohibiting discrimination in employment or housing, but we don't have any Sexual Orientation Regulation like the UK does. It varies by state and it's piecemeal for marriage, adoption, spousal benefits, business practices. We do have protections for religious entities and affiliations, though.

My guess is, if this happened in the US.....the B & B operators would be able to exclude any un-married couples, claiming it's part of their religious belief toward marriage.

I didn't mean mind control, rather peoples will. What they think, or say about a person or group.
Even some hate speech is protected by law. We do have Hate Crime laws and some anti-discrimination laws, but people are freeeee to be bigots, racists or homophobes in their mind, and sometimes even in business practices.

The notion that teh evil US gummint is infringing on Private Property rights doesn't reflect reality.