# Restaurant discounts with church flyers **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 2, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439 "2011-05-02T02:55:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/261 "2011-05-04T22:54:48Z")
Thanks, **Bearflag70** , that does seem pretty conclusive. (Although IANAL.) ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/262 "2011-05-04T23:15:23Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > because in fact any real life restaurant is going to follow policy #1, and give a discount to anyone who asks for it, This assumes people obey the law all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/263 "2011-05-04T23:21:08Z")
So you should go in with four people and eat separately. One person has no church bulletin. One person has a Church of Satan bulletin. The third person has a piece of paper that simply says “Church Bulletin” written in crayon. The fourth person has some bulletin off the internet for some church in Korea. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/264 "2011-05-04T23:33:34Z")
Oh, and someone else should go to all the local churches, swipe all the bulletins, pass them out to everybody in the restaurant, and put the rest in a stack by the front door. I’m certain the churches won’t mind. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/265 "2011-05-04T23:47:09Z")
How about you guys do an experiment and see if they’ll honor the “bulletins” you’re talking about, synagogue/temple/mosque flyers, or ask for the discount, etc. Tell them you’re not Christian, so you don’t have access to bulletins, whatever. THEN come back and report what happens. Rather than sitting here whining about oppression and discrimination. Instead of just talking about hypotheticals. Lawyers have told you repeatedly it’s not discrimination. Examples have been posted where people have asked and extra bulletins were produced that they had on hand and they substituted those. If you still want to claim that you’re being discriminated against, fine. ( **Lemur** , pennies to pancakes they don’t do it. They LIKE claiming that they’re being discriminated against for being atheists here because they can’t save a buck off of stack of pancakes.) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/266 "2011-05-04T23:59:52Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > You don’t know that, **Skald**. You’re making up facts. All we know is that this particular IHOP, which is probably an independent franchise (i.e., small mom & pop), offers a church bulletin discount. We don’t know whether this IHOP requires a bulletin to get the discount or if anyone can just get the discount, upon request, without the bulletin. We are debating a hypothetical case where the IHOP actually requires the bulletin and refuses the discount without a bulletin. If you’ve been reading the thread, IHOP doesn’t sell franchises to “mom & pop” businesses but to established companies. Talk about making up facts! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/267 "2011-05-05T00:35:51Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > whining about oppression and discrimination. = debating the legalities of discrimination > [@Guinastasia](#): > > Instead of just talking about hypotheticals. = debating legal theories > [@Guinastasia](#): > > Lawyers have told you repeatedly it’s not discrimination. … and a judge has told you it is discrimination, unless they provide the same discount to all upon request. > [@Guinastasia](#): > > Examples have been posted where people have asked and extra bulletins were produced that they had on hand and they substituted those. If you still want to claim that you’re being discriminated against, fine. [/quote] I think if they give the same discount upon request without a bulletin, nobody will claim discrimination. > [@Guinastasia](#): > > They LIKE claiming that they’re being discriminated against for being atheists here because they can’t save a buck off of stack of pancakes.) It’s not just about atheists. It’s anyone who does not attend church, regardless of faith. The more churchy you are, the more access you have to the discount. Further, the problem is not just saving a buck on a pancake, it’s whether and to what extent business can discriminate based upon protected classes, regardless of the form or amount of the discrimination… but I’m sure you knew that. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/268 "2011-05-05T00:40:28Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > If you’ve been reading the thread, IHOP doesn’t sell franchises to “mom & pop” businesses but to established companies. Talk about making up facts! 😉 > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > others have already spoken of the fact that many (most?) IHop franchisees are quite large operations in and of themselves. Did you miss those posts, or simply disregard them? > [@Bearflag70](#): > > I must have missed the part about franchises. I’ll go back. > [@Bearflag70](#): > > I keep repeating myself. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/269 "2011-05-05T00:49:10Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > About $2.5 billion in sales big. And they have a legal department. And they offer church flyer discounts. No they don’t. They offer a “church flyer, other religious flyer, some atheist thing, or just ask for it” discount. Which has been pointed out repeatedly in this thread by me and Bearflag. A true church flyer discount is illegal. A discount for any piece of paper with text on it or just asking for one, is legal. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/270 "2011-05-05T00:51:08Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > How about you guys do an experiment and see if they’ll honor the “bulletins” you’re talking about, synagogue/temple/mosque flyers, or ask for the discount, etc. Tell them you’re not Christian, so you don’t have access to bulletins, whatever. > > THEN come back and report what happens. Rather than sitting here whining about oppression and discrimination. Instead of just talking about hypotheticals. Who the fuck is whining about discrimination? My opinion on what a law is has nothing to do with what I think the law should be. Seriously, get the sand out of your vagina, tone the hysterics down, and actually read what is being posted. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/271 "2011-05-05T00:58:34Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > Oh, and someone else should go to all the local churches, swipe all the bulletins, pass them out to everybody in the restaurant, and put the rest in a stack by the front door. I’m certain the churches won’t mind. Indeed, I bet they won’t. Well–they probably don’t want you to swipe _all_ their bulletins. That would be a jerk thing to do. But I think the churches see these occasions as promos _for the church_ too. As I said, I _have_ seen stacks left, and copies handed out. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/272 "2011-05-05T01:19:21Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > … and a judge has told you it is discrimination, unless they provide the same discount to all upon request. Which was exactly what they were doing. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/273 "2011-05-05T01:21:13Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Which was exactly what they were doing. :rolleyes: Excuse me, Miss. Until you go to each and every IHOP around this great nation of ours to be sure THEY ARE ALL DOING IT, you have no leg to stand on and this great travesty of human rights will be considered ongoing Please be sure to save each of your receipts clearly highlighting your “LOLJESUS discount” and post them here chronologically by region visited. Now, be off. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/274 "2011-05-05T01:23:10Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > Excuse me, Miss. Until you go to each and every IHOP around this great nation of ours to be sure THEY ARE ALL DOING IT, you have no leg to stand on and this great travesty of human rights will be considered ongoing > > Please be sure to save each of your receipts clearly highlighting your “LOLJESUS discount” and post them here chronologically by region visited. > > Now, be off. I call BS on Sleeps…You may have them chronologically OR by region, but it shant be both, you’re trying to trick me. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/275 "2011-05-05T01:29:47Z")
You are too slick for me! Region first and then chronologically within that category. If I can’t clearly read your LOLJESUS discount I’m afraid I will not count the visit. And just because you’ve decided to be a Smarty McSmartypants I’m also going to need a notarized affidavit from each restaurant manager swearing upon penalty of death that you did NOT present a bulletin and simply asked for the LOLJESUS discount and were given it. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/276 "2011-05-05T01:31:37Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > You are too slick for me! Region first and then chronologically within that category. > > If I can’t clearly read your LOLJESUS discount I’m afraid I will not count the visit. And just because you’ve decided to be a Smarty McSmartypants I’m also going to need a notarized affidavit from each restaurant manager swearing upon penalty of death that you did NOT present a bulletin and simply asked for the LOLJESUS discount and were given it. Is LOLJESUS like Caturday? ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/277 "2011-05-05T01:40:53Z")
No, it’s what I’ve decided this discount is because this thread makes me lulzy at the idea that Jesus folks have it good like that because they have easy access to the massive pancake discount. This thread is comedy tin ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/278 "2011-05-05T01:45:15Z")
i can haz dizkownt? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/279 "2011-05-05T01:52:36Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > i can haz dizkownt? You can iz xTian? ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439/280 "2011-05-05T01:58:16Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > No, it’s what I’ve decided this discount is because this thread makes me lulzy at the idea that Jesus folks have it good like that because they have easy access to the massive pancake discount. > > This thread is comedy tin It’s your side that is frothing at the mouth. Brynda and Bearflag both specifically said they aren’t offended by the promotion. I don’t feel offended, per se. I support the Civil Rights Act strongly, and these promotions are in violation of it. In that way I am a bit put off, but I bear no real animosity towards IHOP because I don’t think they are remotely trying to create a christian only establishment. But feel free to continue to ignore facts and jabber on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurant-discounts-with-church-flyers/580439.md?page=15)