Monday, February 4, 2013

Humanist Group Sues Florist For Refusing to Deliver Roses to Anti-Prayer Atheist



News From An Uncompromising Biblical Worldview



Heather Clark, Christian News Network — (Cranston, Rhode Island) An activist humanist group has filed a lawsuit against a Rhode Island florist for refusing to deliver flowers to a teenager that succeeded in having a 50-year-old prayer banner removed from the walls of her high school.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) states that last year, after 16-year-old Jessica Ahlquist won her controversial legal battle over the prayer banner, the group sought to send her a dozen roses with the message, “Congratulations, and hang in there. With admiration from FFRF.” However, the group met opposition when three florists in the Cranston area declined to fulfill the order.

One of those florists was Marina Plowman, who runs Twins Florist. She states that she did not know Ahlquist, but was not comfortable with making the delivery. She sent back a receipt order that read, “I will not deliver to this person.”

“I just chose not to do it. Nothing personal; it was a choice that I made. It was my right, so I did that,” she said. “I’m an independent owner and I can chose whoever I want, whenever I want.”

However, FFRF disagreed.

“We have basic civil rights standards in our society. A business can’t shun you because you’re an atheist,” stated president Annie Laurie Gaylor. “You do not have the right to refuse to do business with someone based on categories and that includes religion. It’s as if they said ‘I will not deliver to a black person.’”

The organization consequently filed a complaint with the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights, which, in a preliminary investigation concluded that Plowman may have violated the state’s discrimination laws. FFRF subsequently filed a lawsuit in Rhode Island Superior Court, seeking a declaration that Plowman’s actions were illegal.

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“Doesn’t freedom of religion also allow believers to fly a banner?” a third commenter asked. “I think the florist was right to follow her own beliefs.” » Read More

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