Gay-wed court case no piece of cake
But freedom of religion should triumph over coercion
Today the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the now-infamous Gay Wedding Cake case which, by the way, does not deal with the sexual preference of baked goods. The competing legal principles in this case, loosely translated from the original Latin, are:
“Just bake the damn cake!” vs. “Just go to another damn bakery!”
I’m betting on a win for the baker. And so is longtime Boston civil rights/First Amendment advocate Harvey Silverglate.
“As a lawyer and as a citizen, I believe the baker has a freedom of religion — and a freedom of speech — right not to participate in a (gay marriage) ceremony,” Silverglate told me. He supported same-sex marriage long before Hillary Clinton (as in even when it was still polling poorly) but believes forcing people of faith into participating in a wedding celebration is going too far:
“We have to balance the civil liberties of both sides. Common sense and the law both tell us accommodations must be made to the baker and his conscience,” Silverglate said.
And what about the photographers, the florists, the religious organizations that own meeting halls across America who are under government assault for similar reasons — do they have the right to participate? To simply be left alone?
For the progressive left, the answer is “of course not!” The days of same-sex advocates claiming “we just want to be left alone to live our lives” are over. The era of “you will approve of our lifestyle — or else” has begun.
Why else would activists drag little old lady florists and single-mom photographers into court to face punishment? In the case being heard today before the Supreme Court, the facts show there was another bakery within walking distance of Masterpiece Cakeshop, the shop driven out of the wedding-cake business by the state of Colorado. There were at least a dozen more within a 30-minute drive. Why bring the hammer of government down on this one baker’s head?
One of the men who complained about Masterpiece Cakeshop claims that when the owner said he was unwilling to make a custom cake for the celebration, “We were so stunned, it took a little time to sink in. My mom is kind of a religious person, too, and she said ‘that doesn’t make sense to me.’ ”
Really? You’re shocked to learn there are religious people in the world who believe samesex marriage is wrong — which was also Barack Obama’s public position until 2013? Which is still the belief of a majority of religiously faithful people in the world today?
Guys, if you’re really that uninformed re: religion, you’re just lucky you didn’t try to have your ceremony in a mosque.
Advocates for government coercion against these small businesses are relying on the “public accommodation” argument, but that’s nonsense on its face. This isn’t the rural South during Jim Crow, when black people were forced to sleep in their cars because racist businesses wouldn’t serve them.
There isn’t a single gay couple in America that will go without a wedding cake, flowers or photos because some people of faith object to being forced to participate in a same-sex wedding.
No, the problem is “acceptance.” Progressives and their government allies will not accept intellectual diversity on the issue of sexuality. It’s not enough to lifestyles that may violate the deeply-held faith of some. It’s not even enough that the Supreme Court overruled the democratic process in order to recognize same-sex marriage at the county courthouse.
No, everyone must be made to accept these actions, to approve of them. No one is allowed to behave as though there’s a legitimate moral or philosophical issue involved, and as soon as progressive activists can figure out how to stop the rest of us, no opinions along those lines will be tolerated, either.