Religious Liberties and refusal of business person to endorse gay "marriage". Public says yes according to Rasmussen Poll.

With the passage of gay marriage in Minnesota and the refusal of the legislators to protect religious liberties, it puts Christian and others with a conscientious objection to same sex "marriage" in the crosshairs of state anti-discrimination law enforcers.  Objectors are at risk of fines and even jail come.  Yet a Rasmussen poll shows strong public support for protecting religious liberties.

Will an interesting poll by Rassmussen showing 85% of Americans believe a Christian photographer should not be forced to shoot a gay ceremony.  And Christian and other business owners should have greater say on how their businesses are operated.

Americans draw a fine line when it comes to respecting each other’s rights. If a Christian wedding photographer who has deeply held religious beliefs opposing same-sex marriage is asked to work a same-sex wedding ceremony, 85 percent of American adults believe she has the right to say no.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 8 percent disagree. There are current court challenges involving such cases.

The poll also showed that Americans favor business owners’ rights to set their own rules on a wide variety of issues. For instance, 53 percent of survey respondents said that a bar owner should be able to set the drinking age at his or her establishment at 25 rather than the legal age of 20.

Sixty-eight percent of those surveyed said that the Orthodox Jewish owners of a deli have the right to require that their patrons dress modestly. And most respondents said it’s OK for real estate developers to restrict some properties to people 55 and above and to let bars offer half-price drinks to women during happy hour.

A majority of poll participants said Christian campus organizations should be allowed to select only Christian leaders and gay and lesbian organizations should be allowed to select only leaders who support equal rights for gay and lesbian Americans. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Progressives often dismiss Rasmussen as a shill for conservative Republicans. Its polls just before the 2012 presidential election showed GOP nominee Mitt Romney ahead by four percentage points.

The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on July 7-8 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95-percent level of confidence.