The Problem With Antidiscrimination Laws

My column of last week, The War Against Religious Liberty, addressed the combustible mixture of the antidiscrimination norm and religious liberty, as it applies to ordinary businesses that do ordinary things, like taking photographs and baking wedding cakes. In dealing with that issue, I implicitly accepted the common premise that the antidiscrimination laws as they apply to public accommodations are an acceptable part of the American legal culture, so that the one remaining serious question is what governments should do when small businesses in competitive markets are asked to perform services that cut against their sincere religious beliefs. For the most part, these conflicts are rare, but they do occur with regularity when religious Christians object on grounds of conscience to providing services for same-sex marriages and similar commitment ceremonies.