PC SHAKEDOWN

Score another one for the “fairness over freedom” crowd. Those who use on-line dating services will now be courting in a much more tolerant, albeit more ambiguous, environment. eHarmony, a huge on-line relationship service, just settled a discrimination lawsuit with the New Jersey Civil Rights Division. The settlement is the result of a 2005 complaint filed by some gay guy. What was the guy’s problem? It seems that eHarmony did not provide same-sex dating services. The settlement requires that eHarmony now cater to the “gay community.” While I am disappointed in the settlement, I sympathize with eHarmony’s position. Their attorney explained that they gave in because “litigation outcomes can be unpredictable.” Yea, no kidding! In today’s America, sacred rights are often superseded by the politically correct cause du jour.

eHarmony was founded in 2000 by Neil Warren, PhD. Dr. Warren is a psychologist with a divinity degree and he has worked with Focus on the Family, a Christian based advocacy organization. After 35 years as a clinical psychologist and marriage counselor he decided to test his theory on compatibility as it relates to successful relationships. eHarmony did not match gay individuals because Dr. Warren has not done the same amount of research on same-sex match-making as he has done on heterosexual match-making. He also noted that eHarmony is about marriage and that same-sex marriage is illegal in most states. Apparently it’s also against his religion as he states: “Where Focus on the Family and a lot of these other places come from is that there are six places in the Bible that say homosexuality is wrong.”

Because eHarmony capitulated to this government coerced tolerance, we will never know what would have happened in court. I can tell you that, based on our right to freedom of association, a Society’s Ditch tribunal would dismiss this case with prejudice. The First Amendment states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
While not explicit in the amendment, the Supreme Court has ruled that freedom of association is implicit in the meaning of the right to free speech and the right to peaceably assemble. The Court has also ruled, in general, that freedom of association includes the right to be free from compelled association and that this freedom would be unconstitutionally burdened if the state required an individual to support or espouse ideals or beliefs with which he or she disagrees. Seems pretty “straight” forward to me.

This goes back to a previous discussion here on the NATURE OF RIGHTS. The Founding Fathers believed that all people have fundamental and unalienable human rights against which the government is forbidden to trespass. Because every person has these rights they must be allowed to be exercised universally. If I claim a right that, when exercised, denies the exact same right to someone else, then this supposed right belongs only to me and is not a fundamental human right. Now, if the state decides that my “made-up” right supersedes your rights, I guess that would be good for me but it will create innumerable problems with competing rights. That is exactly what happened in New Jersey. What’s next? Can I walk into a vegetarian restaurant and demand they serve me a big steak? Will the Anti-Defamation League be required to provide links to Aryan Nation literature on their web site? Maybe the NAACP will be required to accept Klansmen as members.

I am curious why this gay guy brought the suit in the first place. It’s not like eHarmony is the only on-line dating service. I’m sure there are hundreds of gay sites available. NOTE: I’m only guessing here. I will go to great lengths to insure accuracy but I draw the line at cruising gay web sites. Anyway, it’s not like the guy has been harmed or has no other options. Could it be that eHarmony is unique in that it is a Christian based site that focuses not on “hooking-up” but on marriage?

I can see where this is headed. In the next few years, some gay group is going to sue eHarmony again because their “gay relationships” aren’t as successful as their straight ones. I don’t know what constitutes a “successful” relationship in the gay “community” and I suspect neither does Dr. Warren.