Religious freedom should be cherished by all of us. But the progressive socialists in our country want to strip us of those freedoms and regulate those freedoms. That’s the same thing Communism did in Russia and Eastern Europe, and is still doing today in places like Cuba and China. These people hate God and despise those who worship Him. This should be deeply concerning to all people of faith, whether you’re a Jew, a Muslim, or a Christian.
This remark comes in connection with the case of Aaron and Melissa Klein, another of those tedious bake-shop cases.
Bah. This is a reprise of the repeatedly-failed argument that southerners made against the civil rights movement: “My religion demands that those people be kept apart.” Sexuality is like skin color, however — an innate trait that cannot justify discrimination in a secular state. You can keep black and gay people out of your church, if you wish, and Southern Baptists generally still do. You can keep black and gay people out of your home, if you wish. You can operate a religious mission which refuses to provide services to black and gay people, if you wish.
But these bakeries are not churches or religious missions; they are ordinary businesses licensed by the public, and a sign reading “We sell cakes” has to mean “We sell cakes to everybody.”