If the baker loses, where does it stop?

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USA TODAY OPINION

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday in the case of “Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission,” in which a baker refused to design a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.

This will be interesting. The baker didn’t refuse to sell the couple a cake. He refused to use his artistic abilities for them. They were free to purchase any cake that was for sale in his shop. They were not refused service.

Can an artist be made to create art for anyone who requests it? I hope not. Ed Hughes

I remember a time when some Americans were denied service in restaurants because they were black. Now, I can tell my son, when he learns about that dark era, that this kind of behavior still exists. If you don’t believe in gay marriage, that’s fine. And it’s your First Amendment right to say so. Just don’t refuse service. Michael Anthony Shea

Should an Islamic store owner be forced to sell pork products? A Christian bookstore sell books by Satanists? Should a Jewish paper print shop print posters for neo-Nazi rallies? The problem isn’t that this couple was treated as second-class citizens, the problem is that they didn’t respect the baker’s beliefs but wanted theirs respected. There is no contract that forces you to sell to or buy from anyone.

Being open to the public doesn’t suddenly make you neutral to your beliefs. The gay couple left him no choice other than sticking to his beliefs or get sued. How fair and inclusive is that?

Andy Rus

For many decades, newspapers have had the right to reject advertising they don’t like, thanks to the First Amendment.

If the baker in Colorado loses this case, what’s to keep the government from forcing newspapers to accept advertising they don’t want to print in their pages? Mike Haynes