Sauce for the halal goose?

Now here's an interesting situation. Remember the big controversy not long ago over the pro-life pharmacists who didn't want to sell the so-called morning-after pill because it's potentially abortifacient? Remember how they said it would violate their conscience to sell the pill, and how a lot of people got up in arms over it? At the time, I thought they should have the right to refrain; this is a matter of life and death to them. Refusing to sell contraception? No. But this is perhaps the only medication in any pharmacy that when used as directed could cause the death of another human being, in their eyes. To grant them the right to abstain on conscience grounds was a reasonable accomodation, or so it seemed to me.

Well, it seems that at least two Muslim shopkeepers in Brooklyn are refusing on religious grounds to sell alcohol. Excerpt:

“The people who think about the money sell beer,” Mr. Saleh said. “The people who think about their religion more don’t do it.” In addition, he said, students from Middle School 51 across the street used to try to buy beer, and he preferred not to run the risk of getting into trouble for selling to minors.

Kassem Salem, the manager of the Salem Deli, offered similar reasons for filling his beer cooler with Perrier. “Beer’s a big seller,” he said, “but first of all you have to think of your religion.”

I have to admit that I admire these guys for making a stand that costs them money, for the sake of honoring their religion. Though I would be deeply annoyed if I lived in their neighborhood and wanted to buy a six-pack. Do you see any kind of parallel in principle between these men refusing for reasons of conscience to sell beer, and the Christian pro-life pharmacists?

What about the Muslim cabbies in Minneapolis who refuse to transport arriving airport passengers suspected of carrying alcohol? If they refuse a fare, the airport makes the cabbies go to the back of the line. That seems just to me. Declining to sell somebody alcohol is one thing, but refusing to give a ride to someone who has a bottle of Scotch from the duty-free? No. The reader who sent me the link takes a dim view of all of this, saying "Sharia law is slowly becoming a part of our daily lives as we acquiese to these demands."