New York Ruling: Bars Can Ban Trump Supporters

A Manhattan judge ruled this week that bars in the city can refuse service to Trump supporters. On the surface this seems to be unjust, but conservatives and constitutionalists should applaud the ruling, which follows the law and small government principles.

It all started in January 2017 when Greg Piatek, a 30-year-old accountant from Philadelphia wore his red “Make America Great Again” cap to The Happiest Hour, a New York City watering hole. Piatek says The Happiest Hour staff was not happy with his headgear and eventually forced him to leave.

The New York Post reported that bartenders noticed the hat after Piatek and his friends had been served the first round of drinks. Piatek says they asked if the hat was a joke and when he was finally able to order a second round, the bartender allegedly “slammed the drinks down.” Piatek claims that the other bartenders ridiculed his hat and refused to serve him and that, when he complained about the service, the manager told him, “Anyone who supports Trump or believes what you believe is not welcome here. And you need to leave right now because we won’t serve you.”

Piatek sued the bar claiming that the incident “offended his sense of being American,” per the Post. Piatek’s lawyer, Paul Liggieri, also claimed that the MAGA hat had religious significance.

“The purpose of the hat is that he wore it because he was visiting the 9/11 Memorial,” Liggieri said. “He was paying spiritual tribute to the victims of 9/11. The Make American Great Again hat was part of his spiritual belief. Rather than remove his hat, instead he held true to his spiritual belief and was forced from the bar.”

“Plaintiff does not state any faith-based principle to which the hat relates,” the judge ruled. “Here the claim that plaintiff was not served and eventually escorted out of the bar because of his perceived support for President Trump is not outrageous conduct.”

The instinctive reaction from many on the right will be to condemn the ruling, but the judge was correct in dismissing the lawsuit. In the first place, the evidence indicates that Piatek and his friends were not upset when they left the bar. The credit card receipt indicates that Piatek’s group ran up a $186 bar tab, to which Piatek voluntarily added a $36 tip. The 20 percent tip is an indication that the group was not displeased with the service that they received.

Second, even though critics of Trump’s movement have called it a cult, support for Donald Trump is not a religious belief and Piatek did not make the case that his hat was religious clothing at the time of the incident. The claim that a MAGA hat is religious garb makes a mockery of true religious persecution.

Although many conservatives seem to have thrown free trade by the wayside, the Constitution does protect the freedom of association and, by extension, the freedom not to associate. Likewise, businesses have traditionally had the right to refuse service to patrons who break their rules. Rules might prohibit sitting at a table without ordering or they might prohibit certain types of clothing.

There are limits to the right to refuse service. Race and religion have long been protected from discrimination by both state and federal laws. New York law prohibits “public accommodations” from discriminating because of “race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, military status, sex, or disability or marital status.” The New York Constitution also protects the free exercise of religion.

What the law does not do is protect patrons from political discrimination by a private business. There is no inalienable right to be served a cocktail while wearing a MAGA hat.

In fact, even the US Constitution does not guarantee the right to free speech in a private business. The First Amendment protects Americans from government censorship, not from being ejected from a bar because the patron engaged in an unpopular political expression.

While it’s tempting to try to claim the mantle of victimhood when someone on the right is ejected from a bar for wearing Republican garb, that isn’t a road that conservatives should want to go down. The inevitable result would be leftists filing a plethora of lawsuits against conservative businesses.

It would also result in a further expansion of government into private transactions between businesses and individuals. No conservative should want the government ruling on what political attire crosses the line as unacceptable. Those decisions are better left to the owners and managers of individual businesses.

Trump supporters may be justly angry that Piatek was forced to leave the Happiest Hour, but suing the bar is not the best solution. A better solution is for like-minded individuals to vote with their wallets and patronize a different establishment, one where MAGA hats are at least tolerated, if not welcomed. In a city the size of New York, with establishments that cater to every sort of clientele, there is certain to be a bar where MAGA hat-wearing, Trump-supporting visitors to the city can enjoy their drinks in peace.

Originally published in The Resurgent

Why revival is needed to make America great again

Everyone has an opinion about how to make America great again. Many people on both sides of the political spectrum seem to think that the way to solve America’s problems is to elect a president, any president, of their own party. In reality, if we want to make America great again, the movement must start at the bottom, not at the top. Making America great again will most likely require repentance and a spiritual revival.

Contrary to the beliefs of most people, the president’s power is limited.  Presidents can issue Executive Orders, but we have seen how such decrees can be limited by the courts and Congress. Even in cooperation with Congress, the federal government can only nibble around the edges of one of the largest problems facing the United States, that of entitlements.

Entitlement spending is a ticking time bomb. Entitlements have been increasing since the New Deal era and now make up 65 percent of federal spending according to the National Priorities Project. Entitlements are mandatory spending that fall outside the normal appropriations process and include such programs as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps) and veteran’s benefits.

In 2015, Social Security and federal health spending programs made up 60 percent of the federal budget. Military spending accounted for only 16 percent by comparison. The problem extends to state governments as well. Medicaid spending alone, much of it mandated by the federal government, makes up 30 percent of the budget of Texas and a fifth to a quarter of the budgets of many other states.

What does entitlement spending have to do with spiritual revival? Entitlement spending has exploded in past decades largely because of the decay of the American family. Unsurprisingly, charts showing the increase of entitlement spending match closely with charts showing the divorce rate and the rise of out-of-wedlock childbearing.

Children from single-parent families are more likely than children from intact families to live in poverty, abuse drugs or alcohol and drop out of school. In a vicious cycle, they are also more likely to have their own children outside of marriage.  

Essentially, government safety net programs, although well-intentioned, made it more attractive for families to split. If the father failed to stick around, the family could get a check from their Uncle Sam.

Ironically, a 1996 Brookings Institution study also noted that the advent of birth control also increased the number of single-parent families. “Before the sexual revolution, women had less freedom, but men were expected to assume responsibility for their welfare,” the report said. “Today women are more free to choose, but men have afforded themselves the comparable option. ‘If she is not willing to have an abortion or use contraception,’ the man can reason, ‘why should I sacrifice myself to get married?’ By making the birth of the child the physical choice of the mother, the sexual revolution has made marriage and child support a social choice of the father.”

Birth control isn’t going away (and shouldn’t), but the growth of entitlements must be addressed. The federal budget deficit cannot be resolved without solving the problem of entitlements. The problem of entitlements cannot be resolved without a change in behavior.

The most likely way to change the behavior that feeds the entitlement beast is a return to Biblical principles. Even the liberal Brookings Institution realizes that the Bible’s teachings lead to a stable and prosperous life. They just don’t put it in those terms.

In 2013, Brookings published “Three Simple Rules Poor Teens Should Follow to Join the Middle Class.” Rule one is to at least get a high school education (Ecclesiastes 7:12). Rule two is to get a full time job (Proverbs 12:11). Rule three is to wait until 21 to get married and have children… in that order (Psalm 127). Brookings is encouraging the Biblical values of wisdom, a good work ethic and intact families.      

It isn’t the government’s place to force Americans to adopt Christian values, but, without implenting a state religion, it should encourage Biblical behaviors that are good for the country and stop encouraging destructive behavior. Barriers to matrimony such as the marriage tax penalty should be eliminated. Require counseling before divorce.

Ultimately, we shouldn’t look to Washington to make America great again. Making America great again will require Americans to become more self-sufficient and reject the endless cycle of entitlements that are busting budgets around the country. More promises of salvation from politicians are not the answer.  

It’s up to us as Americans to take responsibility for our own lives. Learn a trade. Take a menial a job to get a better one later. Stand by your marriage and your children. Take your family to church. Teach them the secrets of life laid down 2,000 years ago. Break the cycle. 

Originally published on The Resurgent

Make America Great Again: Teach Your Children Well

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction,” said Ronald Reagan. “We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

In 2013, the former Archbishop of Canterbury echoed Reagan’s words, saying that Christianity was “a generation away from extinction” in Britain. Lord Carey warned, “So many churches have no ministry to young people and that means they have no interest in the future. As I have repeated many times in the past we are one generation away from extinction. We have to give cogent reasons to young people why the Christian faith is relevant to them.”

The two men both understood that ideas such as the love of liberty and the love of God cannot be learned without being taught. But today, too many parents leave it up to others to teach the love of God and country to their children. We expect pastors and Sunday School teachers to educate our children about God, often on only a handful of Sundays out of the year. Love of country gets delegated to history teachers, politicians, activists and war movies.  

The importance of the two institutions, America and the Christian church, cannot be absorbed by children if they aren’t breathed and experienced on a daily basis. God isn’t a very important part of your life if you only worship him and seek his guidance on Sunday morning. Likewise, if the Fourth of July is the only time you talk about patriotism, your kids probably aren’t getting the message.

People who are trying to subvert your beliefs are much more consistent in their message. Television, movies, books, magazines and politicians are spending a lot of time telling your kids that America was never great and that God, if he even exists, is not good. Modern media is replete with examples of popular culture that ridicules Christianity and patriotism and constantly tries to undermine the values that you want to teach your children.

Should we surrender pop culture and retreat to an off-the-grid existence? That isn’t necessary. The Bible says that we can be in the world, but not of it. The Bible also instructs us to the light the world, but notes that it makes no sense to light a candle and hide its flame. We cannot light the world if we run and hide.

What we should do is be discerning. We should monitor what our children watch, listen to and play. Much of the programming and video games aimed at children are filled with ideas and words that most of us don’t want our children exposed to.

If your child has a smartphone or tablet, monitor their activity with an app like Funamo. We don’t expect our children to live without limits in other aspects of their lives. Why should they have free reign over an internet filled with lies, pornography, perversion, violence, predators and general weirdness?

As someone pointed out in a modern parable, we wouldn’t allow a rude, profane, ill-mannered, violent guest who ridicules our beliefs in our homes. On the other hand, television does all these things and we give it a place of honor as the center of attention. Parents may have to make the decision to turn off their own favorite shows if they are not appropriate for children.

Take your children to church. Take them to museums and historic sites. But don’t let the lessons about Christ and America be limited to such outings.

In my house, we have had the tradition for years of bedtime stories. My children who are now 13 and eight still ask for a “Bible story and an American story” every night. We began when they were babies with age-appropriate Bible stories and have since graduated to reading devotional books and passages from the Bible.

For the “American story,” we like Bill Bennett’s “American Patriot’s Almanac.” This book gives short daily readings from American history and my kids love to hear the stories and trivia every night. Some of the stories they have heard in school and are often excited to add their own knowledge to the story. Others are new even to me.

The point is to live your faith and patriotism daily. If you want to teach your children to live according to Christ’s teachings, they must first know what those teachings are. Since children learn by example, you should be living according to Christ’s teaching as well. All of your lessons will be in vain if your kids see you react in anger and violence after preaching forgiveness.

Likewise, children don’t learn respect for America if they only see the federal government as either a source of handouts or an ogre that constantly threatens our freedoms. Both extremes are equally wrong and threatening to the real meaning of America.  

As you raise your children, remember Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Teach your children constantly by example and by lessons and they will remember your values when they grow up. Hopefully, they will continue the cycle and pass them along to their own children.

 Originally published on The Resurgent