Upholding free exercise

Supreme Court upholds freedom of religious belief

Just about everyone knows the story of the Christian baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple. That baker, Jack Phillips, is not anti-gay and he didn’t make any bigoted statement. (He doesn’t do cakes with alcohol or for Halloween, either.) He merely declined.

The couple sued, the state of Colorado descended, told Mr. Phillips he was wrong and demeaned his beliefs. Eventually the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In America, we now litigate, not only wedding cakes, but opinions and thoughts.

On Monday, the Supreme Court rendered its decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop vs. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. It said the state of Colorado violated Mr. Phillips’ right to the free exercise of religion. In fact, Justice Anthony Kennedy said the state disparaged Mr. Phillips’ beliefs.

The court also found the rights commission to be inconsistent (in three other cases, the commission supported bakers who refused to make cakes that were same-sex marriage). And bullying: One commissioner called Mr. Phillips’ claim to religious liberty “a despicable piece of rhetoric.” Justice Kennedy rightly called that disparaging.

So this was a victory, a significant one, for religious freedom and for freedom of conscience, as well as the individual against bullying bureaucrats.

But what about free speech and freedom of association? Hasn’t any American the right not only to say his piece, but to decline to agree? Mr. Phillips’ decision was more the second than the first.

And hasn’t any American the right, not only to voluntary association but to voluntary disassociation?

The answer to both questions is certainly “yes.” The court has basically, and again rightly, protected hate speech in recent years. And this was very far from hate speech.

But the high court punted on the free speech issue and focused on one man’s free exercise of belief.

That’s being called a “narrow” decision. It is certainly a limited one. But it was sound, within those limits, and maybe enough for all of us to absorb in this round of the culture wars.