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From: brunson@usfbobo.UUCP (David Brunson)
Newsgroups: net.religion,net.motss
Subject: Re: Gay Rights
Message-ID: <201@usfbobo.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 8-Oct-84 02:54:32 EDT
Article-I.D.: usfbobo.201
Posted: Mon Oct  8 02:54:32 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 10-Oct-84 03:43:20 EDT
References: <185@usfbobo.UUCP> <1012@ulysses.UUCP>, <570@pucc-i>
Organization: Univ. of South Florida, Tampa
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[]

Reply to comments from Henry Mensch

>>Susan Cohen wore a Star-of-David pin to her interview which
>>provoked a discussion of, among other things, her family life,
>>synagogues in the area where she might like to attend if she
>>gets the job and so forth.
>
>	I thought employers weren't supposed to ask this sort
>of stuff.  If a prospective employer asked this stuff of me,
>I'd tell him/her/it to stick it up their wazoo!

Well Susan was the one wearing the pin.  Maybe she is proud of
her religious convictions and likes to talk about them.  I didn't
make her fill out an application that asked these questions.  It
was just a warm, friendly spur-of-the-moment exchange.  You know,
the kind that unsuspicious, warm, friendly, wholesome, decent people
have every day.

>> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . First of all, being
>>a Bible-believer, I am intensely interested in opportunities
>>to take advantage of the provision for goys under Abraham's
>>covenant -- "I will bless them that bless you...".  If Susan
>>wants the job, I will tend to favor her for it because she is
>>a practicing jew.  
>
>	If I were Susan, I would be both insulted and scared.
>Insult comes from being hired for a job for reasons other than
>her qualifications. (If another woman wanted the job, would you
>hire Susan because she had larger breasts?!?) 
>Fear comes from the possibility that she might get canned if a 
>Christian with the appropriate credentials (who isn't gay) comes 
>along and wants the job.  Would you can her because she's a Jew?  
>When would you start to use the Bible to discriminate *against* 
>her because she's Jewish?

As for the insult, I left something important out of the original
scenario.  You see, Susan sufficiently impressed me with her
technical knowledge, grades, outstanding achievement in an area
different from that of the job in question, that I was convinced
of her ability to rapidly make up for lack of experience.
No, I would not hire based on breast size, and no, I won't can
her if a Christian comes along who is ripe for the job.  I also
don't know of any possible way to use the Bible to
discriminate because of Jewishness.  In fact, the idea of using
the Bible, a book by, for, and about Jews, to discriminate against
Jews, is absurd.  (Augustine's "witness-people theory" is unscriptural
-- more if there's interest).

>>I'd have to be out of my mind to hire Howard over Susan
>>no matter how much experience Howard has or how immediately
>>he could be making money for me.
>
>	Not to mention a poor businessman. . .

Wanna bet?  This is the bottom line of the whole discussion.  As
a businessman I want to make decisions that will cause my business
to prosper.  I *believe* that God will approve of the business (that
is, make it prosper) if I act uprightly in its administration.  The
subject scenario presents a moral choice.  Do I favor someone who
is wicked but can be of some immediate benefit, or someone who has
character, who behaves uprightly, but may take longer to bring up to
speed?  Turning away Susan for Howard would be like spitting in the
face of a true friend for a quick buck.  It would be vile.  Obscene.
Spineless.  Unprincipled.  Immoral.  WRONG.  My Bible says God don't
like it.  "Love your enemies": a true saying, but not at the expense
of your friends.

>>So, some folks would have had me thrown in jail for the last
>>episode of discrimination.  How about this one?
>
>	You betcha!  Off to the hoosegow with you! 

This may be a silly discussion, but it is certainly an enlightening
one.

--
David Brunson

... better understanding through higher education.