The growing confrontation between Christians and the LGBT lobby has taken another big step today in Oregon. If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I believe this is a confrontation that Christians will ultimately lose. Political correctness (read, moral incorrectness) will ultimately overrule truth and the fear of God. Things will get much worse before they get better.
A Gresham, Oregon bakery discriminated against a same-sex couple who wanted to purchase a wedding cake, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries announced Monday.
The owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa bakery will have to pay the couple up to $150,000, BOLI spokesman Charlie Burr said. The exact amount will be determined at a hearing on March 10.
In Jan. 2013, Laurel Bowman said Sweet Cakes refused to sell her and her fiancée a cake for their upcoming wedding. Bowman said Aaron Klein, the co-owner of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, said the couple’s union was an “abomination unto the lord.” Dale Carnegie must be rolling over in his grave!
Bowman filed an anti-discrimination complaint with BOLI later that year, alleging that the bakery violated the Oregon Equality Act of 2007, which protects the rights of Oregonians who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.
“Oregonians may not be denied service based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The law provides an exemption for religious organizations and schools, but does not allow private businesses to discriminate based on sexual orientation,” Burr said.
So you can believe what you want and practice your faith in church and Christian schools, but God help you if you practice your faith in your workplace. Anyone see a contradiction there besides me.
Admittedly, Aaron could have been a little more diplomatic and perhaps his inflammatory words ultimately provoked the complaint, but $150,000 for a single bakery is not punishment - it's a blatant attempt to shut the business down. It's a bit absurd when there are at least 6 more bakeries in Gresham.
There's something wrong when a government entity suddenly changes the law based on moral beliefs and then expects everyone, even those who disagree, to honour those laws. It's especially disconcerting when there is not only no proof that gays are born gay, but there is, indeed, scientific proof that, at least most of them, are not born gay.
That governments change laws that are intrusive and confrontational to a significant part of the population based on unsubstantiated beliefs, beliefs that contradict thousands of years of practice, is astonishing. God help us.
Rick Renner says it much better than I:
As morality declines and the line between right and wrong continues to blur, those with an unshakable sense of right and wrong will be viewed as obstinate, unbending, and intolerant. The very people who once formed the moral fabric of society will be pushed out and ignored, while fringe groups espousing strange, new philosophies and lifestyles will move to center stage with the intention of designing a new world order built around inclusion and moral relativism. One does not need to be a prophet to see that these developments are already in process and moving at an escalating pace.
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