of them.

After they became political tools of the right all of that stopped. Now they are just used to recruit republicans, press their ideas of hatred, and keep the republican faithful in line. Really sorry times to be sure. I left organized religion years ago when I was in college. I now identify as a recovering catholic.

When was that, exactly?

Yes, there have always been less than open minded, but not as OPENLY hateful as they are now. I have not set foot in a christian church in years except for weddings and funerals and I don't have any thought of doing so. I became a Unitarian Universalist after leaving the Catholic Church, but have even found that I don't feel comfortable there either.

is GOD!

disabled. This church said it did nothing wrong. BS. Absolute BS. At least they could have offered a hand to guide Mr. Burch into the facility and get him seated in time for the services, but they didn't. They could have offered to watch his support animal while services were going on. They didn't. Churches and synagogues are exempt from the Americans with Disabilities Act, sad. If I were representing my church, I'd labor a little more to ensure that all those wishing to attend services could do so in a reasonable manner. They didn't.

I can't imagine that poor guy had to go through the humiliation before the public (or, even a side room and in private).

Never did I think our country would become so hateful to fellow citizens. It is like a plague that is slowly migrating across the nation.

Thank God we have DU to come to and work out our frustrations.

in that wretched church. Another reason to shun religion. If they can't even accomodate a service dog, what will they do to their parishioners who might stray from Grace?

Damn!

Churches and are exempt from doing anything Jesus was supposed to have done, eh? Well, OK, then...

Like, he might be a daily reminder to them that god doesn't actually perform miracles and heal anyone?

Logic plays no role.

they would even try.

Like, why even would you do that?

When all you have is a hammer, treat every problem like it's a nail.

That's a good thing, although I can't imagine why it was in place at all.

There's no way to defend this behavior. Legal it may be, but it's wrong, and even the fundiest of fundie Christians knows it.

"We now realize [our hateful policy of discrimination against the disabled] was not sensitive etc." We're supposed to believe they didn't know this before? What a crock. Everyone knows this change came about only because this story went viral, and the church is in danger of losing its membership (and their donations, of course).

Sometimes there are rules that are overly restrictive, and it is not realized until the rule is tested. The rule has been fixed, which is the key. This is sort of a "man bites dog" story.

"This Sunday, July 7, 2019, LowCountry Community Church will return to its original policy of warmly welcoming service animals and, more importantly, welcome their beloved owners."

They used to welcome service animals.
Then, instead, they didn't.

Sooooo....Fuck those motherfuckers. I'm good. They suck. I'm better than they are.

There. See? Easy.

by appealing to the fact that they aren't required to obey the Americans with Disabilities Act.

That's when they showed us who they really are.

I guess "We're allowed to get away with all kinds of shit that's illegal for everyone else" didn't test very well.

Fuckers.

Here is my thinking...

- There is not a lot of benefit for a church to ban people with disabilities.

- People (humans) often overreact to minor indictments by creating excessive rules.

- Some people like to be super strict rule enforcers (this starts in early childhood)

- It takes another incident (or two or three) to put things right.

So I'm inclined to not to judge these people given what I know. If you disagree, no problem -- whatever soothes your soul!

Based on personal experience, I can say some of my best choices were made in the face of no alternative

In this case the best choice was only made when public pressure made the preferred wrong choice untenable.

These are probably the same people who derive pleasure from fantasizing about rulebreakers being tortured for eternity.

Law enforcement is an area where "zero tolerate rule enforcers" are problematic.