Two close views of bluebell flowers

Steve Schwartzman

Jul 1

Here from June 23rd are two more views of Texas bluebells (Eustoma russellianum) along Vista Ridge Blvd. in Austin's adjacent northern suburb of Cedar Park. For the portrait above, close flash and an aperture of f/29 provided both a well-lit flower and a mercifully obscured background. Below is what the center of one of these flowers is like when seen close and from above.

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In each of the following scenarios, imagine you operate a business that designs websites for people.

1) In addition to designing websites, you happen to be the son of a woman who against the odds managed to survive the Holocaust after the Nazis killed all the rest of her family. One day someone comes in and requests a website that will feature a swastika and have text saying that Hitler was only responding to the unscrupulous ways Jews had usurped power in Germany. Would you agree to design the requested website? Should state law require you to?

2) In addition to designing websites, you're a partner in your family's solar energy business and a firm believer in the need to phase out all fossil fuels as soon as possible. One day someone comes in and requests a website that will include a picture of a derrick spouting oil and the words "Drill, Baby, Drill" underneath it. Would you agree to design the requested website? Should state law require you to?

3) In addition to designing websites, you happen to be a devout Muslim. One day someone comes in and requests a website proclaiming that all religion is a sham, that religions have led to the deaths of millions of people throughout history, and that atheism is the only valid belief. Would you agree to design the requested website? Should state law require you to?

4) In addition to designing websites, you volunteer 10 hours a week at the local Planned Parenthood and have donated a lot of money to the organization. One day someone comes in and requests a website that will include a photograph of a newborn baby and the words "Abortion is Murder" underneath it. Would you agree to design the requested website? Should state law require you to?

5) In addition to designing websites, you happen to be transgender. One day someone comes in and requests a website which will include a picture of a man and woman with a ≠ sign between them and the words "One can never be the other." Would you agree to design the requested website? Should state law require you to?

6) In addition to designing websites, you happen to be an ardent feminist who feels women are still getting the short end of the stick. One day someone comes in and requests a website which will feature articles to bolster the claim that women are happier and more fulfilled staying at home and raising children than going to work. Would you agree to design the requested website? Should state law require you to?

7) In addition to designing websites, you happen to be an an animal rights activist and a vegan (a person who eats no food that comes from an animal). One day someone comes in and requests a website which will encourage people to eat more meat and will extol the virtues of hunting. Would you agree to design the requested website? Should state law require you to?

I pose these scenarios in light of yesterday's Supreme Court decision in favor of a graphic artist in Colorado who wants to design wedding websites but doesn't want to do so for same-sex couples because her Christian religion teaches that marriage is only between one man and one woman.

Perhaps you believe that the Supreme Court got it wrong, and that the Colorado graphic artist should have to design a website that goes against her beliefs. If so, then by the same token you must also believe that the website designers in scenarios 1–7 should agree to design, or even be forced to design, the requested websites that go against their beliefs.