But, to reiterate, there’s no reason you can’t just walk into the church and grab a bulletin. It’s no different then walking into a supermarket and grabbing one of the fliers they have near the door for Apartment rentals or walking into an Office Max and grabbing their weekly flier.
I’d argue that getting a church bulletin on Sunday is at least as easy (and cheaper) as getting a Sunday paper that’s filled with coupons.
It seems like a better thing to argue would be senior citizen discounts. There truly is no way around that one.
ETA, I guess I’m basing this on the church I went to as a kid. The bulletins were right by the door so people could grab them on the way out. A non-believer could literally grab one without setting foot inside the church. I’m assuming most churches have them somewhat close to the door as well. It’s not that you have to sit through the mass, take communion, answer a series of questions, confirm your faith and make a donation to the church. You just walk in and grab one.
I’m a believer. I don’t go to a church with any regularity. It’d be just as hard for me to get a bulletin as it would be for you, since you can’t tell us apart religiously by looking at us. So, is it discrimination against me too?
But it’s not down in a men’s locker room of a Korean Community Center and you don’t have to ask anyone for it. You literally have to walk a few steps into a building, grab a bulletin and walk out. No one will talk to you, no one will ask you any questions, if you don’t happen to do it while mass is about to start or end, most likely there won’t even be anyone back there. If you, a female, walked into a men’s locker room (especially if you did it every Sunday), you’d likely find yourself under arrest since it’s illegal for you to do that (I assume). That’s not going to happen for grabbing a church bulletin.
It’s not really any different they if they offered 20% off for having a take out menu from a local restaurant. Walk in, grab one, walk out and present it at Denny’s for your 20% off. Done.
A supermarket bulletin is made available to patrons of the supermarket. A church bulletin is made available to patrons of the church. i bet if a church knew that people were flocking to the church in bad faith just to get bulletins for IHOP discounts, then the church would deem those people trespassers and thieves. Arguably, it would be illegal for non-church-goers to get the IHOP discount.
How do you figure? The sign says that you need to bring in a church bulletin to get the discount, it doesn’t say anything whatsoever about attending the service.
I’d be VERY tempted to form my own church and recruit my own friends, and print up some “bulletins”. These bulletins would mention the twice-weekly games of Dungeons&Dragons, and would give shout outs to best RPing, especially of evil characters.
I’m willing to bet that very few churches would call you a trespasser or thief for grabbing a bulletin even though you weren’t a member and/or didn’t attend service there.
But since pretty much all churches are open to the public, there wouldn’t be trespassing involved. It’s not like they keep their services a deep dark secret, and you can only get in with the password. I’ve never known a church that wouldn’t have been happy to have you stop in to pick up a bulletin, in the hope that you might come back at some point.
Yes, in this case they might privately roll their eyes a bit, but it’s not like they’re going to clap you in irons or call the cops or anything like that. More likely, if you see anybody, what you’ll get is, “Come back and visit us sometime.”
This just isn’t that big a deal.
Waitjustaminute. That’s discrimination against people that aren’t members of the SDMB AND those who are members but didn’t read this thread.
Also, it’s discrimination against people that don’t have bank accounts to transfer the paypal funds into. I’m telling on you.
ETA, it also appears that your discriminating against people that aren’t atheists.
That’s a promise you are going to regret, Sleeps With Butterflies. I eat pancakes daily. And, you didn’t say they all had to be eaten at one time. So, that’s about 20% of $1000.00 you owe me. I hope your paypal can handle it!
