In a previous career I had a reputation for being able to break things, many times developers would give me an application and ask me to test it thoroughly, try to find flaws in their code, which I would proceed to do. I was very good at breaking things. Mostly I accomplished the task by inserting an unexpected response to fields that required user input. A large number, an extremely small one, or a number when the code was expecting characters usually did the trick. I think it’s a skill I learned from a very good math teacher, “test the equation, insert values calculate the answer, does the result make sense, is your method of solution the right method in this instance?” He taught me sometimes the method you chose to solve the problem can give you unexpected results. Results that are wrong. There is a skill in selecting the right method, and in writing code that won’t fail, both with computers and legislation.
The Kansas House voted 72-49 recently to approve a bill that gives legal protection to businesses and individuals that refuse service to potential customers for religious reasons. Very similar to the recent bill that the Governor of Arizona vetoed. I live in Kansas, so I have a reason to test this code. I truly believed that business owners have a right to operate in a manner they see fit, to attract the kinds of customers they want, customers they think they can service profitably. Christian bookstores, liquor stores, smoke shops, service stations that don’t sell diesel, all target specific customers. My first reaction was this seems ok and falls within a business man’s right. Through my white, heterosexual, Christian, conservative, eyes this code looks right.
This law would allow a business man to refuse service to a potential customer based on the religious beliefs of the business owner. A Christian baker would not be required to furnish a cake to a gay wedding is the example most often given. A Jew would not have to sell a menorah to a Muslim, a Muslim would not be required to sell his wares to a Christian. A liquor store owner could refuse selling wine to Catholics just because one believes it to be an alcoholic beverage the other an element used in worship. Not too awful, it’s the business man’s right, till I tested the code.
Let’s insert some extreme values, let’s change a few assumptions. What if Mexican restaurant owners in Ulysses Kansas said ” if you are not Hispanic no salsa for you? I like salsa! Suppose Jews owned all bakeries and decided that bagels were only for their people. That’s my breakfast of choice! Suppose the state of Kansas was not predominantly Christian but rather Muslim, what if the demographics of Kansas suddenly looked like Iraq? And like there, suppose business owners decided it was against their faith to sell to Christians? What if the first question the Doctor asked you was “to what church do you belong?” or the pharmacist would only service those of like faith? What if gays were the majority rather than the minority? These are unexpected values DeAnn and I inserted to test our nice new code, and the answer doesn’t look right to me. That means only one thing, the code is wrong!
Nothing today requires a business man to be nice to his customers, he is not required to happily serve everyone. There are businesses I won’t visit because of how I am treated, but if they were the only supplier for my needs I could reluctantly patronize them. They would take my money, I would get that day’s needs filled. We don’t require charity from a business owner but he should be required to sell to everyone that has needs and means. Unlike some countries, in requiring business owners to service any customer we insure that the weaker, the minority, can obtain what they believe to be necessities: food, housing, cars, phone, cable TV, even a simple cake for a special day.
Gay marriage that’s a topic for another day. Today I fight to preserve my right to a triple layer, chocolate frosted cake, just in case one day I find myself in a small minority, in a small rural Kansas town, with one gay owed bakery. Yeah that’s a little selfish but I really like chocolate cake. Fellow resident, congressman, and Governor I ask you to do the same, avoid the the politically safe side of today’s majority, fix this code, preserve liberty.
David
