According to the court, the rights of the lesbian couple trump the First Amendment rights of the Christian couple. Lovely.
Can you imagine if the roles were reversed and the Westboro Baptist Church wanted a gay baker to bake an anti-gay cake?
There would be riots in the streets.
And it would be ‘glittertastic’.
But that’s not the case with this case.
Doug has some thoughts on the Masterpiece Cakeshop Supreme Court case that are applicable here:
https://www.facebook.com/ClashDaily/videos/1542069922576447/
Admittedly, these aren’t easy decisions, when you have conflicting rights.
There is the right of the lesbian couple to not be discriminated against and denied service due to their sexual orientation pitted against the First Amendment rights of the Christian couple to have freedom of expression and of religious belief.
Let’s be real — the Free Market will provide.
Don’t like the baker?
Don’t sue them.
Find another baker.
Give them a bad review on Yelp.
Tell your friends that they wouldn’t bake a custom cake for you.
This seems like an easy fix.
How hard is that?
Reward service you like and don’t support businesses you don’t like.
That’s how it’s supposed to work.
Suing them?
That’s an a-hole thing to do.
This is a ‘Scorched Earth’ mode of behavior — ‘If I can’t have it, nobody will.’
It’s vindictive and petty.
It cost them the Klein’s business and they were to pay Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer $135,000 for ’emotional distress’.
To contrast — Rep. John Conyers settled a sexual harassment claim for just $27,000.
$135,000 for not getting a wedding cake from a particular bakery seems a bit excessive when contrasted to the behavior that women who worked for the creepy sexual harassers in Congress were subjected to.
Here’s a quick summary of the Oregon bakery case:
– January 2013 Rachel Bowman-Cryer and her mother went to a suburban Portland bakery, Sweet Cakes by Melissa, looking for a wedding cake
– They met with Aaron Klein who asked for the wedding date and the names of the bride and groom
– When he learned that there was no groom, he said that he was sorry, but they don’t make cakes for same-sex weddings
– The mother and daughter left the shop, and Rachel’s mother returned a short time later while Rachel waited in the car crying. The mother allegedly told Klein that she used to think like he did, but her ‘truth had changed’ when she had two gay children
– Klein responded by quoting the book of Leviticus, ‘You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.’
– And Bam! Lawsuit
– The Kleins were found guilty of violating a 2007 Oregon law that protects the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people in employment, housing and public accommodations
– The Kleins were to pay $135K in ’emotional distress’ damages to the Bowman-Cryers
– Sweet Cakes by Melissa is closed for good
The Kleins decided to continue to fight by appealing the court’s decision, and they just lost again.
The owners of the since-closed Gresham bakery – Aaron and Melissa Klein – argued that state Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian violated state and federal laws by forcing them to pay emotional-distress damages of $135,000 to the lesbian couple Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer.
Their lawyers said Avakian and the state Bureau of Labor and Industries violated the Kleins’ rights as artists to free speech, their rights to religious freedom and their rights as defendants to a due process.
But the Oregon Court of Appeals sided with the state Thursday, saying the Kleins failed to show the state targeted them for their religious beliefs.
The Oregon Court of Appeals sided with the state?
Shocker.
Here’s the court’s B.S. reason:
The Oregon court said the Kleins’ argument that their cakes entail an artistic expression is ‘entitled to be taken seriously,’ but it’s not enough for the couple to assert their cakes are pieces of art – they must show others perceive their creations like a sculpture or painting.
‘Although we accept that the Kleins imbue each wedding cake with their own aesthetic choices, they have made no showing that other people will necessarily experience any wedding cake that the Kleins create predominantly as ‘expression’ rather than as food,‘ the opinion says.
Are you freaking kidding me?
The cake is the centerpiece of the wedding.
It is a sculpture of cake and confection that people willingly shell out hundreds or even thousands of dollars for. They’re not paying for butter, eggs, flour, and sugar — they’re paying for the art. Otherwise, just as Doug said, they’d save the cash and buy a couple of Betty Crocker mixes and make it themselves.
Anyone who has been to a wedding would know this.
Anyone who has watched one of those ever-present cake design shows on the Food Network could tell you that.
Kelly Shackelford, president of First Liberty Institute, the legal organization that represents the Kleins disagrees with the decision of the Appeals Court.
‘The Oregon Court of Appeals decided that Aaron and Melissa Klein are not entitled to the Constitution’s promises of religious liberty and free speech,’ said Kelly Shackelford, the firm’s president. ‘In a diverse and pluralistic society, people of good will should be able to peacefully coexist with different beliefs.’
The state fined the bakers after determining they violated a 2007 Oregon law that protects the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people in employment, housing and public accommodations. The law provides an exemption for religious organizations but does not allow private businesses to discriminate based on sexual orientation.
Source: Daily Mail
So, the court can veto the First Amendment rights of freedom of expression and religious belief for Christians. The court can order a small bakery to pay over a hundred thousand dollars to a lesbian couple for hurt feelings.
Congressmen can grope their employees, make them sign NDAs, give victims one-fifth of the amount awarded as ’emotional distress’ damages to the lesbian couple that didn’t get the cake they wanted.
And a lesbian couple that can’t get a wedding cake from a Christian bakery can turn the whole situation into one giant payday.
What a world we live in.
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