I have to get work done now…
I don’t think we agree on that. Since, by definion, we must agree that we agree for our agreeing to be genuine, we obviously don’t agree.
McCallister’s on, let me think Poplar offers discounts like that. “Get 15% off with a church bulletin” or some such. yesterday I said something to the effect of, “I don’t have a church bulletin,can I get the discount?” prompting the cashier to hand me the one she’d just been given and say, “What do you mean you don’t have a church discount? What’s that in your hand?”
It’s just a way to drum up business, and calling it discriminating against atheists is just looking for an axe to ground.
Let’s assume the restaurant gives the discount to a person if and only if that customer walks into the restaurant bearing a church bulletin.
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What if the local IHOP is actually purchasing ad space in the church bulletin in th form of a discount coupon. By doing so IHOP is helping the church cover their printing costs while trying to attract business.
How would this be any different from placing a coupon in the local newspaper (except the church bulletin would be free and the newspaper has a purchase price)?
So what?
No one has to be a member of a church, be a member of any religion or religious organization, pass any religious test, or anything materially related to religion. They are to produce a bulletin that is de facto available to anyone. In this case the bulletin has to come from a church, but no one’s religious practice of any sort or kind is affected – unless you claim your religion forbids you from setting foot inside a church. In terms of anyone’s religious rights being impinged upon in any way, the fact that the bulletin is from a church is coincidental and immaterial, as there is no such impingement. Not EVERYTHING that involves a church has religious import.
Note that they don’t offer the discount for members of any and every organization. It specifically has to be the NAACP (and whatever others, but you can be sure that less than 1% of the organizations in the country are included). This is actually more discriminatory, in the general sense, than the church bulletin requirement.
I just don’t see where asking for a church bulletin even begins to look like religious discrimination, or to impose a burden that is oppressive or unfair. I don’t think a case has been made beyond your not liking it.
No one is being prevented from eating at IHOP. The prices and items on the menu and are consistant for everyone. The patrons are seated throughout the dining room solely based on their order of arrival and perhaps party size.
Some people, who are the receipients of targeting advertising, can get a discount.
Does IHOP offer coupons by no other avenues?
What if I attended church, but neglected to bring in my bulletin? Am I being unfairly (dis)advantaged?
It’s still very common, and often the bulletins are available online.
I subscribe to the Minnesota Atheists weekly email and there’s a local buffet restaurant that hosts a weekly meeting. (I’ve personally never been to one of them.) Well, the restaurant offers $2 of dinner/brunch or $1 off lunch if you bring in a copy of the email.
So apparently this kind of thing can swing both ways.
Congratulations on finding a way to be offended. :rolleyes:
If you’ll read more closely, Giles was contrasting the two organizations, not comparing them. More importantly, the contrast was with regard to a single attribute, namely whether the organization restricts its membership based on race. His comparison was not ludicrous, insulting, or borderline racist. It was entirely relevant to the discussion.
I don’t make a practice of looking to be offended. But I read Giles’ comment too hastily and misunderstood him.
Giles, I’m for going off like that. I was wrong.
Not a problem. I didn’t write all that well for comprehension, and re-reading I can see how you could have misunderstood me. (Even though you’re a rhymer 
)
Many places will give you an advertised discount simply by telling them you’re aware of it.
A lot of tourist destinations have unadvertised locals prices. The bars in Gatlinburg have this as do many in New Orleans. The savings can be significant.
It’s an association of colored people. Sounds like an organization based upon race to me.
First Baptist Church. Sounds like an organization based upon religion to me.
Don’t have to be black to join the NAACP.
Don’t have to even be a member to obtain a bulletin from 1st Baptist Church.
Have to pay dues to become a member of the NAACP.
Don’t have to pay anything to get a bulletin.
Discounts offered to members of the NAACP seem no different to me than discounts offered to anybody that happens to have a church bulletin.
nm
Knock yerself out. I doubt the poor waitstaff at Denny’s really cares one way or the other and they’ll probably just give you the discount.
Lawyer here. Like everyone else, trying to tell you in this thread, this has NOTHING to do with religion, protected class or not. It’s not giving a discount to Christians. It’s giving a discount to people who can show a specific piece of paper. That paper happens to be a Church bulletin, but could probably just as easily be a Mosque bulletin or a Synagogue bulletin and work just as well.
And if you go to none of those?
Make your own “Church of the anti-Church” bulletins and show them to your IHOP server. I’ll bet you get your stupid $1.50 discount.
This isn’t about religion and it’s not about a protected class. You know what else is a protected class? Gender. But, damned if there aren’t Mother’s Day specials running right now telling me that this Sunday, moms eat FREE! That’s discrimination against the uterine-impaired.
In one of the examples I mentioned earlier, Gelato Paradiso is offering a discount to movie ticket stub bearers, but only honoring the discount if the stub is from the movie EAT PRAY LOVE. I don’t like that—but I don’t think it ought to be illegal. I think a restaurant ought to be allowed to offer a discount for attending event X or bringing in object Y, no matter what X or Y might be.
ETA: Of course, if some people have a strong negative reaction to event X or object Y, the restaurant would run the risk of having that negative reaction color their attitude toward the restaurant itself. That’s the risk they take.
I’m out of ammo on this one. I gave it a good shot. As a minister of the Universal Life Church, I look forward to some cheap hotcakes!
Yeah, the more I think on it, the more I think it’s not going to stand up in court. No one says access has to be easy, and access is theoretically possible, so…
The two links **Brynda **linked were not to court cases, but rather to people who wrote complaints using the Religious Discrimination rationale and the restaurants in question backed down, voluntarily. Anyone can cave in to a bully without admitting legal fault.
There are plenty of non-black members of the NAACP. I’m assuming everyone knew that, but some of these posts suggest that may not be the case. AFAIK some of the founding members were white.
I can’t fathom how discounts for NAACP membership or church-bulletin possession could possible be perceived as illegal OR wrong.
Thanks for giving a lawyer’s opinion, Enderw24. It looks like, in your educated opinion, having a bulletin from a church is not the same as having a discount based on religion per se. I appreciate you weighing in on this interesting question.
Those who thought I was planning to sue should rest easy. I never said that, and don’t really know where anyone got that impression. I was curious, but apparently that upsets some people. Sorry about that. I had no idea this was such a touchy issue.
Thirty seconds of Googling and I had a printable PDF file of the most recent church bulletin from a church somewhere in Pennsylvania staring back at me. I’m pretty sure I could hit print and take it to any place with this deal and get my discount. Pretty much the same as an on-line coupon if you ask me. No religion, trespassing or anything else involved.