According to CBS News, the Colorado Court of Appeals
ruled in August that the Christian faith of Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece
Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado, did not exempt him from making cakes for gay
weddings … as such an act constitutes discrimination.
That ruling came after a
decision made in May 2014 by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, requiring
Phillips to make cakes for same-sex celebrations, to engage in “re-educating
his staff” and to file reports for two years that show that he is adhering to
the state’s anti-discrimination laws.
According to Phillips’
attorneys with the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the latest move of asking
Colorado’s highest court is an attempt to secure a religious-freedom exemption
for the baker and other Christians like him seeking to abide by their religious
beliefs. “The freedom to live and work
consistently with one’s faith is at the heart of what it means to be an American,”
Jeremy Tedesco, a lawyer with ADF, said in a press release. “Jack simply exercised the long-cherished
American freedom to decline to use his artistic talents to promote a message
with which he disagrees.” He added, “We
are asking the Colorado Supreme Court to ensure that government understands
that its duty is to protect the people’s freedom to follow their beliefs
personally and professionally, not force them to violate those beliefs as the
price of earning a living.”
As reported by the Gospel Herald, Phillips’ legal trouble
started in 2012 after he refused to provide a wedding cake for Charlie Craig
and David Mullins. “In an exchange
lasting about 30-seconds, Phillips politely declined, explaining that he would
gladly make them any other type of baked item they wanted, but that he could
not make a cake promoting a same-sex ceremony because of his faith,” read a
press release from Phillips’ team. However,
the couple complained to the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which in turn
cited Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act in finding Phillips guilty of
discrimination … regardless of his beliefs on homosexuality.
Earlier this year, ADF filed a brief with the Colorado Court of
Appeals arguing that the baker just declined to make a cake that violates his
Christian beliefs, and that he would similarly reject “cakes with offensive
written messages and cakes celebrating events or ideas that violate his
beliefs, including cakes celebrating Halloween, anti-American or anti-family themes,
atheism, racism, or indecency.”
On his part, Phillips
has stated in the past that he would rather close down his bakery than go
against his Biblical views on marriage. “I
believe I make a personal contact with [customers] in trying to create what [they]
want. ... So it’s more personal, it’s not just a product,” he explained. “With the wedding, I feel like I’m involved
in the wedding and this is a wedding ceremony. As a Christian, the Bible teaches that the
relationship is sinful, and it’s wrong and that we’re to avoid participating in
sin. And in my mind this would be
participating in that,” he said. “My
faith in Jesus Christ comes before my need to bake cakes for a living, and if I
have to close down the bakery and pursue another line of work, I would do that
before I would compromise my faith.”
Because I believe the
outcome of this high court appeal has the potential of affecting every
Christian, have you (yet) measured the extent to which you will not compromise
your convictions … or cave-in to pressure? What will you be willing to sacrifice …
remembering that our Master ‘paid it all.’
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor,
Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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