Saturday, July 17, 2010
Cry Me A River
The Austin American-Statesman brings us the story of a former bus driver who feels he's been slighted because of his religious beliefs.
The Capital Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS) is a publicly-funded entity and that makes Graning, by extension at least, a government employee. If he was running some private taxi service, I'd have no issue with his decision. It would be his fare to lose. As a CARTS employee, he had a duty to provide the service he was paid to provide to anyone eligible to receive that service.
It's also worth pointing out that a trip to a Planned Parenthood clinic does not mean an abortion is about to be performed. Planned Parenthood provides an array of services. A half-brained notion on the part of some "minister" (especially one who hasn't figured out how to dupe enough followers out of thier tithes to avoid having to get a real job) is not enough to justify a public service to anyone.
I have to assume that, as an apparent religious conservative, Graning is probably also a limited government conservative. As such, what the hell was he doing working for a public transportation service in the first place? Once again, the hypocrisy of conservatism shines through.
"A former bus driver has sued the Capital Area Rural Transportation System,Frankly, I think that Edwin Graning, the "ordained Christian minister who is opposed to abortion" and is no longer a bus driver, needs to put on his big boy pants and realize that his rights don't trump anyone else's.
charging that the nine-county transit service discriminated against him based on
his religion when he was fired for refusing to drive a woman to a Planned
Parenthood clinic in January."
The Capital Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS) is a publicly-funded entity and that makes Graning, by extension at least, a government employee. If he was running some private taxi service, I'd have no issue with his decision. It would be his fare to lose. As a CARTS employee, he had a duty to provide the service he was paid to provide to anyone eligible to receive that service.
It's also worth pointing out that a trip to a Planned Parenthood clinic does not mean an abortion is about to be performed. Planned Parenthood provides an array of services. A half-brained notion on the part of some "minister" (especially one who hasn't figured out how to dupe enough followers out of thier tithes to avoid having to get a real job) is not enough to justify a public service to anyone.
I have to assume that, as an apparent religious conservative, Graning is probably also a limited government conservative. As such, what the hell was he doing working for a public transportation service in the first place? Once again, the hypocrisy of conservatism shines through.
