As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“Evangelicals in the United Kingdom secured a major legal victory for freedom of conscience today, as the nation’s Supreme Court ruled on behalf of a Christian bakery that declined to fulfill an order for a pro-gay cake.” - CToday
“The Episcopal Church’s General Convention passed a resolution last Friday that expanded the right for gay couples to marry in all dioceses even where local bishops theologically object to same-sex marriage.” - CPost
“Christian wedding vendors who decline to provide services for same-sex ceremonies have suffered another legal setback.The Oregon Court of Appeals ruled Dec. 28 that the state did not violate the First Amendment rights of Aaron and Melissa Klein in a 2015 order that included a $135,000 fine.” BPNews
In any nation that aspires to be free, freedoms will clash, and there will be winners and losers. Speeding laws limit the freedom to drive fast in favor of the freedom to drive safely. Theft laws limit the freedom to take things we want in favor of the freedom to keep what’s ours. In the retail setting, antidiscrimination laws limit the freedom to sell selectively in favor of the freedom to buy what we want without being turned away because the seller doesn’t like “our kind of people.”
Soon, the Supreme Court will rule in the case of Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (if it hasn’t already by the time this post appears). When it does, it’s likely that one set of freedoms will be protected or expanded, and another set will be limited. Which freedoms should prevail?
Though I’m not a lawyer, several features of the case are clear to me, and they point toward the conclusion that the Court ought to rule in favor of Masterpiece Cakeshop.
“The Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission filed a brief Sept. 7—along with the Christian Life Commission of the Missouri Baptist Convention and others—arguing the “free exercise of religion by secular vocations in the marketplace should be no less protected than sacred vocations in the ministry,” citing the Supreme Court ruling in Burwell v.
“Should it pass, this motion would make clear that our ministers are free to perform the wedding of same-sex couples at our church in the same way we do couples of different sex. … First Baptist Church of Christ is part of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.” Telegraph
“Based on polling in 2017, a majority of Americans (62%) support same-sex marriage, while 32% oppose it.” Pew
“The DC Baptist Convention has a relationship with the Southern Baptist Convention. Can that relationship continue with the DC Baptist Convention becoming ‘a convention that…does accept a church that has legally married [lesbian] copastors in terms of their own membership’?”
Discussion