Print 
PDF
The United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Colorado Christian baker Jack Phillips yesterday in a significant way, saying the government's hostility towards his refusal to make a same-sex, so-called "wedding" cake violated the US Constitution.
I talked about this ruling on our live radio program yesterday morning, as the ruling was made public.
Here's what caused the Court to rule 7-2 in favor of the Christian, the positive impact of the decision, and how homosexual activists and the mainstream press is trying to play down the significance of the ruling.
The 7-2 vote by the highest Court in the land ruled that the State of Colorado violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment when it penalized Phillips and his Masterpiece Cakeshop for violating a state discrimination law by refusing to bake a custom cake to celebrate the "wedding" of homosexuals Dave Mullins and Charlie Craig.
The Court's decision said, "The laws and the Constitution can, and in some instances must protect gay persons and gay couples in the exercise of their civil rights, but religious and philosophical objections to gay marriage are protected views and in some instances protected forms of expression."
The 7-2 majority of the Supreme Court said: "The law must be applied in a manner that is neutral toward religion."
The Court reasoned that Phillips' use of his artistic abilities to make a wedding cake carries a "significant First Amendment speech component and implicates his deep and sincere religious beliefs."
The Court criticized the Colorado Civil Rights Commission's clear bias against Phillips' Christian beliefs. They said the commission showed "a clear and impermissible hostility toward the sincere religious beliefs motivating his objection."
I think it is significant that the Supreme Court put importance, not only on what the commission and other lower courts had done but on their intent and attitude toward Phillips' religious beliefs and Christianity in general.
In fact, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion, "At several points during the meeting, commissioners endorsed the view that religious beliefs cannot legitimately be carried into the public sphere or commercial domain, implying that religious beliefs and persons are less than fully welcome in Colorado's business community..."
Kennedy quoted one commission member who "suggested that Phillips can believe 'what he wants to believe' but cannot act on his religious beliefs 'if he decides to do business in the state'."
The opinion also states that the "commissioner even went so far as to compare Phillips' invocation of his sincerely held religious beliefs to defenses of slavery and the Holocaust."
Arrogant belief on the part of homosexual activists is not confined to Colorado.
Remember when Chick-fil-A was planning to open restaurants in Seattle? Mayoral candidate Ed Murray told the Seattle Times if there was anything he could do to stop them from doing business in the City of Seattle, he would do it but lamented that there probably wasn't anything he could legally do.
Murray and other candidates agreed, Chik-fil-A was not welcome in Seattle. The reason? Because the owners believe in the biblical definition of marriage.
Different actors, but the same rage toward biblical Christianity.
Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian destroyed Gresham bakery owners Melissa and Aaron Klein and their Sweet Cakes by Melissa business using these same tactics, driven by the same intent.
Melissa and Aron were ultimately fined $135,000 for declining to create a "wedding" cake for two lesbians. Although Avakian is no longer Oregon Labor Commissioner, the Kleins still suffer the consequences of the bankruptcy forced upon them by the state and Avakian's hatred for the Klein's personal beliefs.
At the time, Avakian said, "This case is not about a wedding cake or a marriage. It is about a business's refusal to serve someone because of their sexual orientation."
And he said the case had to do with "the basic principle of human decency that every person, regardless of their sexual orientation, has the freedom to participate in society. The ability to enter public places, to shop, to dine, to move about unfettered by bigotry."
Obviously, he himself was bigoted, as revealed by the Supreme Court decision yesterday regarding another baker who holds the same sincere biblical beliefs held by the Kleins and another government agent who holds the same anti-Christian bigotry.
Kristen Waggoner, a Christian lawyer with Alliance Defending Freedom--- from the Bellevue area--- represented Jack Phillips. Kristen also represents Barronnel Stutzman, the florist from Richland.
Washington State A/G Bob Ferguson has essentially made the same attack on Barronnel, that was taken on the Kleins, that was taken on Jack Phillips.
All refuse to compromise their sincere biblical beliefs---violate their conscience--and artistically create something used to celebrate something they do not believe in---same-sex "marriage."
Kristen says, "The Court was right to condemn" these actions. She said "government hostility toward people of faith has no place in our society....Tolerance and respect for good-faith differences of opinion are essential in a society like ours."
The ACLU and other similar organizations were on social media yesterday fighting a battle they just lost.
The ACLU tweeted, "The Court did NOT rule that the Constitution gives a right to discriminate." And, "As a nation, we've already rejected the idea that businesses open to the public have a license to discriminate against people because of who they are."
I know what they mean---we all do. If you disagree or fail to affirm their sexual behavior you are "discriminating." But ironically, they may be right in the sense that they have become so accustomed to discriminating against biblical Christians, and more recently with the force of law and government consent, that their words are their own indictment.
The media has been and will continue to attempt to spin this as "not all that significant," "not a real win for religious freedom," etc.
Don't believe it.
Even though this is a more narrow ruling related to the Jack Phillips case, it will impact every other similar case---and there are many--- that will surely come before the Court. And the activists know it.
I like how Franklin Graham responded when he tweeted, "We thank God for answered prayer!" "Today the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Jack Phillips, the Colorado baker who refused to create a wedding cake for a same-sex marriage ceremony. This is a huge win for religious freedom!"
Be Prayerful. Be Grateful. Be Vigilant. Be Informed.