I have every right to deny you service for any reason I choose, it’s my business, I can steer it in whatever direction I want just so long as I provide a handicap parking space outside

That being said, you also will not find a single outwardly religious person on my staff.

Discrimination is a catch-all term for offenses of every degree, though it’s generally used for the milder ones because the worse types have distinct terms of their own. Blacks and gays experienced and continue to experience discrimination; so do women, the elderly, the disabled, the left-handed, and most minority groups in general. They also experienced assault, murder, arson, and a number of other things we generally don’t encounter in connection with our atheism.

That doesn’t mean that the concept of discrimination is somehow uniquely theirs; it simply means that their experience has provided us with some of the clearest illustrations of it. We do not cheapen their experience and their rights by standing up for our own.

I have a reason why I cannot name this company

The “it” in “You hesitate to even name it as such” was referring to the discrimination, not the business.

I said I don’t know what those atheists who dislike religion are going on about? I don’t remember saying that. Because I never did.

No, you didn’t. That was the extrapolation. But based on your article, and where you went after the bit I quoted above, it seems I wasn’t far off the mark.

I’m not sure why you veered off into objecting to attacking Christians – no one here has attacked Christians, suggested that you do so, or even generally approved of the notion. That particular bit of shadow boxing is for you to sort out with yourself.

What bothers me is the reverse of your hair-trigger concern for Christians – how quick and ready you are to disavow the atheists who actively fight against the sort of treatment you’ve received. The easy way you draw a connection between disliking religion and being a jerk, the way you spend an entire paragraph distancing yourself from the bugaboo atheist of public fame and disdain…hell, the way this compares with your unfailingly polite and respectful description of the people who actually discriminated against you because of your atheism. “I’m not one of those bad atheists!” is that entire section summarized in one sentence.

And that’s unfortunate. Because when you do that, you’re not only attacking people who are fighting for your rights – you also encourage people like JohnK, who has helpfully dropped in here to let us know that atheists deserve it. You concede their scornful characterization of the more outspoken atheists without, it seems to me, quite realizing just how many of them think exactly the same of you despite your genteel open-mindedness and soft-spoken neutrality.

1) I was hesitant to use the word discrimination. I would call it a form of discrimination, but I’m hesitant to use that word considering it typically conjures up images of the poor treatment of blacks and gays in their fight for equal rights.

2) I have a reason why I cannot name this company other than “I’m just being a nice guy.”

3) I said I don’t know what those atheists who dislike religion are going on about? I don’t remember saying that. Because I never did. There are lots of Christians I do not like, but it is not based on the mere fact that they are Christian. It is based on the fact that those whom I do not like are often arrogant, narrow minded, bigots. Not all of them. That is why I won’t be so foolish enough to use a blanket statement like, “Here is why I don’t like Christians!” Because not all Christians are “discriminatory.” In which case, I’m not going to lump all Christians into one category and call it a day. Isn’t that what this guy did to me? Doing that would make me quite the hypocrite wouldn’t it be?

The purpose of this post was not incite a Christianity vs. Atheist debate. There are enough of those on the Internet. This post was meant to call attention to religious intolerance.

I’m not saying that refusing to print my booklet is “religious intolerance.”

So..

1) You have personally experienced illegal religious discrimination at a business providing services to the public.

2) You hesitate to even name it as such, much less do anything about it, even though you very clearly see the problem in this and the heavy imbalance of social opinion against you and your rights.

3) You’re not sure what all “those atheists”, the ones who dislike religion and its place in our society, are going on about.

I’m extrapolating a little here, but do I have that about right?

TITLE II–INJUNCTIVE RELIEF AGAINST DISCRIMINATION IN PLACES OF PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION
SEC. 201. (a) All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, and privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, as defined in this section, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin.