An example, huh? Do you think I'm daft? Oh, well, maybe so. Here goes.
Let's introduce Leslie. She has a speaking engagement at a major convention being held in Mojo's city. This speaking engagement is a really big deal for her. Maybe it's her hard-earned professional big break, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to showcase her innovative research before the top people in her field at their bi-annual convention. Or maybe she's getting an opportunity to showcase the need of her dying son for a transplant at a convention for his disease that will get national media attention. Whatever the scenario, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her. The details of the scenario don't matter.
Now it seems that our Leslie has medical problems of her own. For whatever reason, maybe migraines, maybe sciatica, maybe paralysis, maybe a speech impediment, she always has difficulty delivering speeches but has found that if she can get a massage immediately before her appearance, she can handle the situation well. Having heard through the grapevine that Mojo is a great masseur and very reliable, she has the hotel concierge make arrangements for him to massage her at her hotel before she speaks. Mojo sends a confirmation so she proceeds confident that the speech will go well and her greatest hopes will be realized.
But when Mojo gets to the hotel and discovers that Leslie is a woman, he refuses to massage her, it's too late to find someone else, she can't deliver her speech, and the consequences for her are disastrous. Maybe her son dies. Or she's sued for breaking her contract and not appearing. Or she loses out on a teaching job at Princeton. Or whatever. She is damaged, at least arguably, by Mojo's refusal to massage her.
The question is: what weight does freedom of conscience have in assessing Mojo's responsibility for this damage? He has broken a contract with tragic results. Arguably, at least, he has some responsibility for those results. Inarguably, he renegged on a commitment. Does his claim of freedom of conscience relieve him of responsibility for either or both of those? In what way and to what extent is Mojo advantaged in the outcome of this lawsuit by his claim of conscience, IOW, what is the marginal value of freedom of conscience, what extra edge does having freedom of conscience provide as a defense? Or, if that question sounds too much like a request for speculation, what do you think the marginal value or edge should be? |
