BEN SHAPIRO
31 Mar 2015
501
The tolerant left has now decided that anybody who believes in freedom of religion ought to be boycotted. CEOs and government leaders are threatening to boycott the state of Indiana–and not just governmental entities in Indiana, but private businesses in Indiana that have never discriminated against anyone homosexual, let alone same-sex weddings. But these same CEOs and government leaders will happily do business with some of the worst regimes on earth–regimes that do not merely recognize the right of private businessowners to do business with the clients they choose, but that sponsor the state-sanctioned execution of homosexuals.
On Sunday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that his company would “never tolerate discrimination.” He then compared Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act to Jim Crow; he equated a law guaranteeing the rights of individuals to take part in only the transactions they want to a law forcing individuals to take part in only those transactions the government deems worthy. But Cook is happy to do business with and in Saudi Arabia, as Erick Erickson points out, as well as Uganda, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. All of those countries are quite unfriendly to homosexuals.
Other companies looking to boycott Indiana include Smallbox, Salesforce, and Angie’s List; particularly, they want to disassociate from businesses headquartered in Indiana. Yet all of these companies work with businesses with outlets in places like Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality is punishable by death.
The cities of Seattle and San Francisco also want to boycott Indiana. Yet in 2007, Edward Burton, president and managing director of the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council, went to Washington to meet with the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle, and the Rotary Club of Seattle. The Trade Development Alliance is comprised of “a partnership of the Port of Seattle, Port of Tacoma, Port of Everett, Metropolitan King County Government, Snohomish County Government, Pierce County Government, City of Seattle, City of Everett, Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and union leadership.” The Trade Development Alliance is slated to hold an event on April 22 touting doing business in Iran, where gays are hung from cranes. San Francisco, meanwhile, is a location for significant Saudi holdings, including the historic Fairmont San Francisco Hotel. While San Francisco once considered pulling investments in Russian companies, it declined to do so. Currently, the San Francisco Global Trade Council includes Dmitry Beskurnikov of the Russian Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the USA; the Council says it routinely performs “missions to Cuba, Russia, and China” and partners with the “Mayor’s Office of International Trade and Commerce.”
The state of Connecticut, under Governor Dannel Malloy, wants to boycott Indiana, too. Connecticut already has a Religious Freedom Restoration Act. So do 17 other states around the country, none of which have been targeted for boycott.
