NC Restaurant Drops ‘Prayer Discount’ After Threat of Lawsuit

[CatWoman]

Earlier this week we brought you news of a restaurant adding more money to patrons’ bills as a “minimum wage fee.” Well, another restaurant came under fire this week for what it was adding––or in this case, subtracting––from bills. Mary’s Gourmet Diner in North Carolina was giving customers a 15 percent discount for praying in public, but they stopped doing it after they got threatened with a lawsuit.

The diner’s discount went viral after a radio station shared this picture on their Facebook page.





Obviously, not all of the feedback was positive, so diner owner Mary Haglund posted on Facebook in response, clearing things up about this supposed policy.

It’s a gift we give at random to customers who take a moment before their meal. This could be prayer or just a moment to breathe & push the busyness of the world away. Who you talk to or meditate on etc. is your business. I have lived in a 3rd world country, there are people starving. We live in a country with an abundance of beautiful food. I NEVER take that for granted. It warms my heart to see people with an attitude of gratitude. Prayer, meditation or just breathing while being grateful opens the heart chakra. It’s good for everyone!!!!

The Freedom from Religion Foundation sent a letter to the diner, charging that such a discount is in violation of the Civil Rights Act.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/nc-restaurant-drops-prayer-discount-after-threat-of-lawsuit/

[trumad]

1. Some will say who cares if they do that..

I say give an inch they will take a mile

[Dirty Socialist]

2. Aww...I Was Going to Pray to Jobu There

Can't hit curveball.

[VScott]

8. Just don't steal his rum

Is very bad... very bad.

[Dirty Socialist]

11. It's A BYOB Restaurant, Right?

[IronGate]

13. ...

[Initech]

10. Oh I was going to pray for the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

[msongs]

3. imposing a prayer tax then trying to deny it. they have a great religion eh? nt

[Iggo]

31. Lying about it, even.

Good, good people.

[gratuitous]

4. Hmmmm, I seem to recall . . .

Didn't Jesus have something to say about people reciting long prayers in public so that they would be noticed and thought pious by others? Gee, what was it???

[Warren Stupidity]

5. The Religionists can pray all they want, but they can't give

rewards for being god-smacked in a place of public accommodation. And I don't care how much Ms. Haglund wants to wrap it up in new age do-goodery. I'm fairly certain she wasn't handing out discounts for "breathing while being grateful". Oh and instead of praying to a fictional deity thanking it for not afflicting us with the 3rd world awfulness it seems Haglund believes it has a hand in afflicting on those people, perhaps instead Haglund might offer to let her patrons take 15% of the bill and redirect it to their choice of charitable programs helping alleviate all that awfulness.

[ripcord]

6. I don't see a problem

Privately owned restaurant can give discounts as they please, if I don't like it I don't go there.

[cui bono]

22. What if they gave discounts to whites only? Then decided to serve whites only?

Would you be okay with that? I mean you could just not go there if you didn't want to. Or maybe they would have already made that decision for you.

That's not what this country is about. Just because it is a privately owned restaurant doesn't mean they get to be bigots.

[Iggo]

32. Nice post, Rand.

I keed, I keed.

[TlalocW]

7. I used the example

Of being a car salesman and how would you (you being my religious family and friends who saw no problem with this) of charging you more for a car if you didn't pray in my dealership... Or I didn't like how or who you prayed to. They didn't like that scenario. About half of them then "got it."

TlalocW

[Jenoch]

9. "Freedom from Religion Foundation"

There is no such thing as 'freedom from religion'.

[alp227]

24. Yes there is. It's another frame of "separation of church and state".

I have the right not to be proselytized by government.

[Jenoch]

28. Who wrote anything about government?

This woman's restaurant has nothing to do with the government.

The 1st Amendment is about not establishing a state religion. It is not about not seeing somebody pray in a restaurant.

[NightWatcher]

12. They did it for the publicity. They want some of that Chick Fil A money

Say something religious, absorb the backlash, rally the overfed bible thumpers to your defense, deposit large sums of money into your bank.



Preachers were telling their flock from the pulpit to patronize them

[yeoman6987]

14. Chick Fil A is a bad example

The flock of people who buy there do so because of the exceptional customer service and great food. It really tastes good. If either one of those fell, so would profits.

[NightWatcher]

15. There were lines here for months at Chick Fil Hate after the last time the preachers made the call

They said something hateful about gays, gays and progressive people said they'd boycott, 'christian' preachers called out for their flocks to support them, chubby white bible thumpers obliged.

There is usually a line at lunch time, but they were crazy busy when good christians were called to their defense of hateful remarks. I saw all my fundy family post pics of themselves, proudly eating the deep fried hate with big shit eating grins on their faces. No one ever posted pics of themselves standing in line with their bible for fast food before they offended gay people.

[yeoman6987]

16. If the food sucked, there would be no lines

I know many gays who eat there.

[NightWatcher]

17. you are missing my point. They saw a spike in business becasue preachers told their people to eat

there because they were a good christian business that was being picked on by gays and their friends.

The restaurant in this story made a fuss hoping to cash in on popularity for being a 'good christian business'. It was a PR stunt.

[stillwaiting]

20. The company sucks. It's one of the most right-wing and nasty corps in the country

It's a damn shame when gay people support them or anyone else that identifies as progressive or liberal. There are great places to eat that don't financially support such nasty corporations.

[CatWoman]

26. yep

[CatWoman]

25. i'm sad for you that you don't understand the comparison, or lack thereof

[LeftyMom]

27. Eh, the one here is a ghost town.

The neighboring In-n-Out burger is always packed. I guess nobody here wants to get thier kids a fried greasewich and a Focus on the Family CD.

[itsrobert]

29. Great food?

Terrible sandwiches. Got sick last time I ate there.

[muntrv]

18. Matthew 6:6.

http://biblehub.com/matthew/6-6.htm

"When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6"But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 7"And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.…

[MisterP]

21. 's right: Christians are actually heavily discouraged from praying in public (well, making a show of

it)--and money for prayer is just simony (since you're not a celebrant being paid for your time)
also, following laws
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_anarchism

[hobbit709]

19. I wonder if they would have given the discount for a prayer to Satan?

Or do you think someone would have gotten unglued?

[WorseBeforeBetter]

23. Reliably blue downtown Winston-Salem, locally-grown, interesting menu...

(lavender syrup, tofu, tempeh, some gluten-free), strong following... I doubt this will hurt business. Anyone out there familiar with the owners? They don't come across as religious nutters, but I could be very wrong about that.

http://w.singlepage.com/marys-gourmet-diner/menu

I understand the sentiment of not taking food for granted and being grateful for what you have, but what a goofy thing for them to do. I mean, why not something like a 10% "Meditation Mondays" discount for ALL parties? The "Praying in Public" approach is just so... Hobby Lobby. They've got a page devoted to local artists, and my guess is that these aren't wingnut Virginia Foxx voters.

http://www.marysgourmetdiner.net/about-us/artists/

Weird.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

30. They sound kinda new age Christian

You know (not saying you) sometimes you just can't put people's beliefs in a nice box or an ugly box like some here on DU always have to.