Posted on 07/04/2015 12:55:58 AM PDT by John Semmens
Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian finalized his order requiring Aaron and Melissa Klein, bakers who refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding, to pay $135,000 in emotional damages to the couple they denied service. When the Kleins attempted to defend their religious objections in a radio interview, Avakian issued a "gag order" forbidding them from speaking publicly on the topic.
Avakian dismissed the "freedom of speech" claim, insisting that "Oregon's statute outlaws refusals to serve customers based on their sexual orientation. For them to try to continue the argument after I have already ruled against them shows contempt for the process. On top of that, their assertion that same-sex marriage violates God's laws is hate speech. No one can prove there is a God, much less know what such an entity's 'laws' might be."
Neither did Avakian accept the contention that $135,000 might be an excessive penalty given that the couple's desired cake could have easily been baked by any number of other willing bakeries. "Under Oregon's law, any consumer has an absolute right to be served by the vendor of his or her choice," he pointed out. "No customer should have to endure even the slightest inconvenience. It does not matter that there were dozens, maybe hundreds of competing bakers who could have fulfilled that order. Sure, $135,000 is far in excess of any actual damages, but by making an example of the Kleins we are warning others to not make the same mistake."
To the Kleins' complaint that the fine and gag order shows that "in Oregon we neither have freedom of religion or freedom of speech," Avakian replied that "loss of civil rights is a penalty lawbreakers must expect to suffer."
if you missed any of this week's other semi-news/semi-satire posts you can find them at...
http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php?topic=173914.new#new
ping
I don’t find this very funny. In fact its not funny at all. We should not be laughing when people are oppressed.
Gotta keep yer sense of humor. Oregon Baker gags on gay cake! Now that is funny.
Where’s the satire? Hitting that close to the truth isn’t
satire, it’s sarcasm.
Satire is not about “funny”.
It is about illustrating failure of reason and logic in the behavior of others.
Ummmm...not satire
The feminists murdered humor ("That's not funny!") years ago, and now the homosexuals and the judges have attacked satire with their knives and left it for dead.
I have faith in you, John. Carry on, Sir!
bump
when does this case and the fine get heard in a real court, and since when does Commissioner of Labor throw out fines anyway
...To the Kleins’ complaint that the fine and gag order shows that “in Oregon we neither have freedom of religion or freedom of speech,” Avakian replied that “loss of civil rights is a penalty lawbreakers must expect to suffer.”
OOoohh! That may be the best example of a circular argument I have ever seen! Congratulations, Mr. Semmens.
Imagine if we had lost the war and not achieved our independence:
There would be a Ruling Class and Peasants;
We would have a tax system that those in the ruling class could take advantage of;
We would have a leader that would issue edicts of his own will;
We would be told when, how, and where we could practice our faith;
We would be restricted in our ability to protect ourselves from tyranny;
Private property rights would be violated;
Information of how our leadership acts would be restricted and/or edited before it was disseminated to us;
Speaking out against that which we deemed wrong or inappropriate would be met with disdain and contempt, possibly with legal ramifications;
Political representation would be non-existent or corrupt at best;
Yep...just imagine what life would be like right now...
uptoolate
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