"Christian" Skating Time

[Will Esser]

An unusual blurb on FoxNews that will be of interest to the list.  I'd be curious if anyone knows the legal basis under which the NY Div of Human Rights sent the cease and desist letter, given the privately owned status of the skating rink.
   
  Spiritual Skating, Dictionary Debating 
  Sunday, July 02, 2006
   
  By Scott Norvell 
   The New York Division of Human Rights is clamping down on a privately owned roller-skating rink that has advertised a "Christian skate time" on Sunday afternoons, according to the Times-Herald Record, claiming that the marketing ploy is discriminatory.
   
   
  Skate Time 209 in Accord, N.Y., advertised the Sunday skate just as it has "tot skates," "tween skates," family nights and adult disco parties. But when the Christian advertisement appeared in the local weekly paper, officials in Albany sent the rink's owners a cease-and-desist note.
   
  A "Christian skate denies or at a minimum, discourages non-Christian patronage," the letter said.
   
  The skating rink changed its ad to refer to "spiritual skate times" on Sundays, but insisted that "Christian" referred only to the type of music played during the sessions. No one was discriminated against, its owners said.
   
  http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,201874,00.html
   


Will Esser  --- Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
Charlotte, North Carolina

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We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark;
the real tragedy is when men are afraid of the light.
Plato (428-345 B.C.)
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