Posted on 03/30/2015 4:49:32 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
The 'gay cake' controversy could have implications for shop owners with religious beliefs, a court has heard.
A barrister for County Antrim firm Ashers Baking Company said if they lost the discrimination case there would be wide-reaching consequences.
He said it would mean a Muslim printer could not refuse to print a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad.
The case has been taken by a gay rights activist, Gareth Lee.
He placed the order for the cake with Ashers.
The barrister for Mr Lee said that businesses needed to make clear in advance what they would and would not do.
He said Ashers had nothing in their terms and conditions to prevent them baking the cake which Mr Lee ordered.
Earlier, the role of the Equality Commission in the case was defended in court.
The Commission has set aside a fund of up to £33,000 to pay for legal costs in the case.
It has been criticised in recent months by a number of unionist politicians over the decision to take the case.
A barrister for Mr Lee said the Commission was the "guardian" of anti-discrimination laws.
He said it was duty-bound to defend them.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
The FCC never bothered to regulate printing presses the way that they are taking over the internet to make sure everyone has “equal access” to a printing press or recording factory.
Sure he could, as long as he refused to print it for EVERYBODY and not just a select group of people.
Tell the customer that you do not sell novelty cakes. You, as the owner, determines and defines what constitutes a novelty cake. End of story.
Could never happen in America,...
What a great idea! But do they run anything but 7-11s and hotels in the USA?
A better analogy is a Muslim baker refusing to bake a cake which has a cross on it and says something like, “Jesus is the only way.”
It’s just a cake or pictures, it doesn’t mean you are their best friend. Just be professional and businesslike.
Say you are busy or going out of town, there are ways.
Wrong. It is Art. An Artist has the absoulute right to choose not only the canvas, but the subject of their painting.
Here the canvas is the top of a cake. An artist should not be required to violate their conscience just because some idiot wants to pay him to do it.
The comparison would be if a White Supremacist Nazi went to a Jewish Baker and demanded they bake him a birthday cake celebrating Hitler's Birthday and putting a swastika on it.
You would just tell him to "be professional and businesslike."
I would tell him he should throw the creep out of his studio.
Good example and there are thousands of other ones.
In the case of a wedding cake or something similar, no it's not "just a cake or pictures". You are being asked to actively participate in an event that celebrates something God calls an abomination. Now the people holding the event have a legal right to do so, but they do not have a right to force you to participate if doing so violates your religious beliefs.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.