Glocksman wrote:I don't know about the laws in Britain, but I do believe that bankers cannot refuse to do business with you here based on religion because religion is one of the protected categories mentioned in most of our civil rights laws.
You did read the article right? They weren't kicking them out due to religious beliefs, they were kicking them out for being extremely vocal bigots. Simply because they label their bigotry as a religious belief doesn't mean that their religion is what's being discriminated against.
Whether or not the bigotry is religious based (and thus protected) would be for the trial and appellate judges to decide if this was in the States.
But it's not, so I don't think this one will see the inside of a courtroom.
Sounds reasonable and is legal under British law.
Under US law though, refusing to do business with someone based on a disagreement of belief is much more problematic due to the various civil rights laws.
Ironically enough, under the Federal laws, race and religion are specifically named while sexual orientation is not.
Therefore it's perfectly legal under federal law (state laws vary) for me as a landlord to refuse to rent to a homosexual, but illegal for me to refuse if the reason was that he was a Satanist.
A business that promotes diversity is well within its rights of protecting its business interests and disassociating with a group if the said group's practices promote ideologies that are contrary to the business' goals.
I certainly can't recall any laws that require a business to continue associating with an organization if said organization's practices actively conflict with that business' goals. Which promoting hate speech/bigotry would do if one of the goals of the said business was promoting diversity. Simply passing off their hate speech as apart of their religious beliefs is quite frankly, idiotic.
"It's you Americans. There's something about nipples you hate. If this were Germany, we'd be romping around naked on the stage here."
There are exceptions to the civil rights laws, and in the main, those exceptions tend to be religious groups, private clubs, and so on.
If this was in the States, the legality of it would probably depend upon the bank's charter and articles of incorporation.
IMHO, this case would lead to a lawsuit that the bank would lose if this were in the States.
Of course I qualify that statement with the caveats that we don't know all of the facts and that I'm not a lawyer.
Someone really needs to ask Stavro, the SD.Net House Mouthpiece.
"You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."- General Sir Charles Napier
My mate just sent this link (realplayer) of a representative of the Co-op Bank and the head of Christian voice being interviewed on the BBC. Do click on it it's a highly entertaining 6 minutes.
Thanks for a good laugh. Really loved how the host riped the bigot a new one while being very respectfull. The fundie squirming and trying to use the tipical tactic of misdirection and being compleatly obvious about it is a bonus.
