In Texas, Crockett Keller is a gun dealer who also offers handgun safety classes -- classes which are required for people interested in a concealed handgun license. Such a license is supposed to be available to anyone regardless of religion, but Crockett Keller announced in a radio ad that he wasn't interested in giving classes to... well, to just about anyone but other Christians like him.
The Texas Department of Public Safety might have taken away Keller's ability to administer these classes, but apparently when he found out that his bigotry and discrimination would actually come with consequences, he backtracked and promised not to discriminate. I wish I could believe that his statement reflected sincere conviction rather than being motivated by his financial desire to keep being paid for the classes.
Keller aired an ad on a radio station near his Central Texas home of Mason seeking participants for a handgun training class. In addition to information one would expect in a radio commercial, like the dates, location, and how to register for the class, Keller told listeners there were certain people who should not bother signing up.
"If you are a socialist liberal and/or voted for the current campaigner-in-chief, please do not take this class," Keller said in the ad. "You've already proven that you cannot make a knowledgeable and prudent decision as required under the law. Also, if you are a non-Christian Arab or Muslim, I will not teach you the class. Once again, with no shame, I am Crockett Keller."
In the days after the radio ad went viral on YouTube, Keller defended his stance. He told the New York Times last week, "Why would I teach people who have sworn the annihilation of the United States and who can lie, cheat, steal and murder Americans in order to further Islam?"
Source: Syracuse.com
I wish I could say that this level of hate and bigotry were uncommon in Texas, but it doesn't appear to be. It's more likely than not that Crockett Keller's business improved after he announced publicly that he doesn't regard all Americans as equal human beings... and that's just sad. It says a lot about a person when they treat differences of opinion about gods or religion as a reasonable basis for unequal political and social status.
We'd surely see a lot more bigotry and discrimination like this if the government didn't step in and take action to protect everyone's equality. Bigotry and discrimination like this are a primary means by which those with power and status preserve their positions and keep others from obtaining anything similar. Ultimately the best protection against things like this is social and cultural censure, but it takes much longer for culture to change to the point where bigotry like this can be excluded.
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