Restaurant rescinds prayer discount

Discussion in 'Religion' started by Magical Realist, Aug 11, 2014.

  1. Magical Realist Valued Senior Member

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    "A restaurant in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, landed in hot water recently when its 15 percent discount for parties praying in public made the national news.

    Now, according to reports from several media outlets, the discount is no more.

    “We are no longer issuing the 15% praying in public discount. It is illegal and we are being threatened by a lawsuit,” read a handwritten sign posted at Mary’s Gourmet Diner.


    News of the discount went viral when Z88.3, a Christian radio station in Orlando, Florida, posted a photo of a Mary’s receipt on Facebook on July 30.

    “A friend of ours just shared her receipt from lunch where she got a discount for praying in public!!! How cool is that?” radio station staff wrote underneath a photo of the receipt, which clearly showed a line reading “-15% Praying in Public.”

    The photo, which got 5,330 shares at last count, drew comments ranging from the overwhelmingly positive to the downright offensive.

    “Paying people to pray. What next dragging people at gun point into churches?” read one critical comment posting under the name Deborah Rubano.

    The reaction to the discount prompted the restaurant to post a message on its Facebook page on Aug. 1.

    “There’s a lot of craziness going on in regard to the 15% discount. ... I will say that it is not a ‘policy’, it’s a gift we give at random to customers who take a moment before their meal,” the message read. “Who you talk to or meditate on etc. is your business.”

    The discontinued discount at Mary’s appeared to be prompted by a letter from the Madison, Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation, which sent a letter to the restaurant earlier this week that urged them to stop.

    “Offering this discount violates the federal Civil Rights Act,” read the letter, signed by the foundation’s staff attorney, Elizabeth Cavell. “Your restaurant’s restrictive promotional practice favors religious customers, and denies customers who do not "
     
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  3. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    And your question is?
     
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  5. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    That's too bad. It would have been fun to see the brouhaha that might have resulted when a few Wiccans went there and did a Imbolc meal blessing. "Oh, yeah, about that prayer discount - we only honor it for official Gods."
     
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  7. andy1033 Truth Seeker Valued Senior Member

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    Atheists always have a go at any theists doing anything. How the heck can any atheists say this is wrong, and its upto the business surely whom they offer discounts to.

    I thought you were free over there, oh yep i forget its only christians that cannot do such offers.

    Although i couldn't care less, i thought in usa you can do what you want as a business, and they are entitled to offer what ever discounts they want. How is it discriminating, when the owner has no idea what religion you are or if you are an atheist. The customer could just pretend.

    Some times usa and its anti chirstian anything is bizarre. It never clamps down on other religions.
     
  8. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    Google "Ground Zero Mosque."
     
  9. andy1033 Truth Seeker Valued Senior Member

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    Yep but thats a rather sensitive point.

    It would be like putting a israeli star of david on gaza grave stones, wouldn't it?

    How is the business owner here affecting atheists? In regard to ops question.
     
  10. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    Sure... Would you like to find out that your restaurant gives a discount only to people with no faith?
    Imagine how that would go down in the US.
     
  11. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    It's a violation of the Civil Rights Act. We atheists have to keep constant vigilance in order to avoid illegal theocracy-creep.

    http://ffrf.org/uploads/legal/marys_diner_letter.pdf
     
  12. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    Well, more like putting an Israeli star two blocks from a Gaza cometary.
    ?? He's not really affecting them. He is free to offer a discount (which he did) and he is free to end the discount (which he did.)
     
  13. Kittamaru Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Adieu, Sciforums. Valued Senior Member

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    Technically speaking, it isn't in violation of anything; the owner of a private establishment can offer a discount to whomever they choose for whatever reason they choose. There is nothing, legally, preventing him from doing so... after all, he isn't refusing service on those grounds...
     
  14. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    Seriously? What about only giving discounts to white people? Would that be illegal?
     
  15. Magical Realist Valued Senior Member

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    Which amounts to charging non-praying customers more for their meal. Isn't that a violation of civil rights?
     
  16. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    Well, this would be more akin to giving discounts who people who said "I'm a white guy!" no matter what color or sex they were.
     
  17. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    How many atheists do you see praying over a meal in your average restaurant?
     
  18. StrangerInAStrangeLand SubQuantum Mechanic Valued Senior Member

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    You have that backward.
     
  19. StrangerInAStrangeLand SubQuantum Mechanic Valued Senior Member

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    That was legal for a very long time. Now it is illegal.
     
  20. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    For a 15% discount? I bet you'd see more.
     
  21. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    So are you suggesting that atheists should have to cheat and lie in order to be treated as equal to religious people?
    Again, what if it was the other way around? Can you imagine the uproar that would create?
     
  22. Kittamaru Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Adieu, Sciforums. Valued Senior Member

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    Not quite an equal parallel - now, if they were only giving discounts to people of a specific religion that prayed, then you'd be spot on; I don't know the details on that to say what they were or were not doing for sure.

    It's sort of like how I know several small coffee shops that give free coffee and sometimes a free bagel/doughnut/muffin etc to EMT's, Police Officers, and Firefighters on holidays - it's sort of their way of saying "thank you for your service".
     
  23. StrangerInAStrangeLand SubQuantum Mechanic Valued Senior Member

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    That is not quite an equal parallel.
     

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