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Comment by stefankorun | Hacker News Reader

Okay, so how would you consider the alternative when someone is expressing their opinion on other topics like: “Do you really like dating people of the same sex? Sorry that’s the kind of thing I associate with someone who does not have any mental issues as yourself”.

I am not advocating if any of them are good or bad (personally I avoid both), but we should really have the same standards when it comes to the famed “free speech”.

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All of these hypothetical conversations are great reasons why sex, politics, and religion should never be discussed in the workplace. Somebody's feelings are going to get hurt.

False equivalence. Religion is a personal choice. Sexual orientation isn't.

It’s reasonable to equate them. Both are protected classes.

Yes, it's reasonable to equate them in the context of employment discrimination. That's what "protected class" protects from.

Isn’t that the context here?

Religion has been a protected class for the longest time.

I don't understand how that's relevant. The comment I replied to was arguing about applying the same standards in free speech, whereas "protected class" refers to employment discrimination.

Religion is not a personal choice? Is your philosophical stance a personal choice?

Yes, it is. My philosophical stance has been changing and evolving constantly over these 40+ years that I have been alive. Unlike my race or my sexuality, it's not part of who I am, it's part of who I choose to be.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that anyone who feels like they have no control over their religion -- the same way they have no control over which color of skin they were born with -- should seek help because they're being abused by someone.

But bringing up your sexuality in the workplace is a personal choice.

"So you think religion is a personal choice and sexual orientation isn't? Sorry, I cannot hang out with misguided people such as yourself!"

I can literally take anything you say and find any excuse to disassociate myself from you. The problem is when people don't talk to each other and it's worse when they disassociate based on topics they likely have no idea about.

Is it a personal choice though? If in the morning I decide between wearing a blue shirt or a red shirt, that's arguably a matter of personal choice, but deciding to believe in God is as much a 'personal choice' as deciding to believe in gravity or deciding to believe in homeopathy.

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