Cake-gate proves that while freedom of expression is vital, tolerance wouldn’t go astray either
PERHAPS it’s a sign of political progress in Northern Ireland that instead of sectarian feuds, battlelines are now being drawn between progressive and traditional values, as they are in large swathes of the West, The British Supreme Court victory for Ashers cake shop was widely welcomed as a salute to common sense and the right of individuals to follow their conscience, rather than be railroaded on to a path determined by the hectoring thought police from either the PC liberal consensus or indeed the Church.
The court ruled that Ashers had not breached equality legislation, because their refusal to decorate a cake emblazoned with a ‘support gay marriage’ slogan was based on their Christian opposition to the message, rather than the customer’s identity.
Basically, Ashers would have refused to decorate the cake even in the unlikely event of it being ordered by an upstanding church-going heterosexual member of the DUP.
So far so good. But when a photographic agency which was hired by the Christian Institute to take pictures of the triumphant couple, whose legal appeal it funded, refused to hand over the images and offered a refund instead, we had an insight into how entrenched opinions can disrupt normal business and inflame society.
THE photographic agency declined the work on the same grounds that Ashers refused gay activist Gareth Lee’s business. Their problem was with the bakery’s attitude to same sex marriage, rather than their being evangelical Christians.
‘We appreciate that this looks like tit for tat, and it is,’ said the agency’s founder Tony Xu. ‘As soon as I found out I realised this was an opportunity to highlight exactly why this kind of result is damaging. Our knowingly tit-fortat stance is purely intended to highlight what this kind of judgement opens the door to.’
We only have to look to America to see the ugly climate that unfolds when opposing tribes go to any length to settle scores. The hesaid, she-said circus over Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court appointment is the latest manifestation of a nasty culture war that has divided a country.
Kavanaugh’s display of angry self-pity shows how victimhood has been weaponised to reframe the narrative of white, privileged and conservative America.
The strategy of liberal Democrats is scarcely more edifying. The elite looks down on hillbillies and ‘deplorables’ and foam about Kanye West’s unhinged pro-Trump soliloquy.
THE climate in America is extreme compared to Europe. In Northern Ireland, same sex marriage is outlawed, so the actions of Ashers have a different resonance than here. Even so, deploying the crucial principle of freedom of speech to defend their refusal to decorate a cake for a loyal customer seems excessive.
It is after all only a cake. Its slogan offends Christian teaching on marriage but it’s not inciting violence or demeaning of anybody. Ashers are not being ordered to adapt their beliefs.
Flying the kite for individual conscience in this febrile climate has the potential to detonate more hostility and divisions through society. History shows how that risk is often justified and in the public interest. But is it a risk worth taking over a cake?