A law that in this way coerces a shopkeeper to cooperate with actions he reasonably believes immoral is gravely unjust

The Shopkeeper’s Dilemma and Cooperation with Evil
by Robert T. Miller

A shopkeeper who objects to sex-same weddings but who nevertheless provides services at such weddings generally acts in a morally permissible way if he acts to comply with a validly-enacted law, to preserve the goodwill of his business, and to make a just profit. Nevertheless, a law that in this way coerces a shopkeeper to cooperate with actions he reasonably believes immoral is gravely unjust.

Russell Nieli and Jeffery J. Ventrella have been arguing here at Public Discourseabout how shopkeepers, such as bakers or photographers, should respond to antidiscrimination laws that require them to provide services at same-sex weddings when they object, on religious or moral grounds, to same-sex unions. Nieli and Ventrella agree that it would be morally permissible and even commendable for such shopkeepers to avoid violating the law by ceasing to serve all weddings, whether traditional or same-sex, or even by ceasing operations completely and finding another line of work. They disagree, however, about a third option proposed by Nieli.

Nieli suggests that it would be morally permissible for such shopkeepers to comply with the law and provide services to same-sex couples if they also announced publicly, perhaps through signs prominently displayed in their businesses, that they believe that marriage is a union of one man and one woman, that the relevant antidiscrimination laws infringe their freedom of conscience, and that they are complying with these laws only under protest and out of respect for the rule of law and the democratic process.

Ventrella disagrees, arguing that complying with an unjust law is always morally wrong and thus that any shopkeeper implementing Nieli’s suggestion would be engaged in an action that is inherently immoral. Responding to Ventrella, Nieli seems to concede that his suggestion would involve the shopkeeper in immorality, but “even if one considers conformity to an evil law an additional moral evil, a prudent person will weigh the moral harm done by such conformity against the consequences that would result from the inability to support oneself and one’s family.” Since “life often requires such weighing, balancing, and compromising,” the shopkeeper’s contributing to the same-sex wedding may be the best option, including from a moral point of view.

Sorting this out requires that we make some distinctions that both Nieli and Ventrella overlook.

• Just Laws vs. Unjust Laws and Formal Cooperation vs. Material Cooperation ....
• The Principle of Double Effect ....
• Morally Permissible Material Cooperation but an Unjust Law ....

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