Posted on 10/21/2021 5:37:32 AM PDT by Kaslin
“The rights of free speech and free exercise, so precious to this nation since its founding, are not limited to soft murmurings behind the doors of a person’s home or church, or private conversations with like–minded friends and family. These guarantees protect the right of every American to express their beliefs in public. This includes the right to create and sell words, paintings, and art that express a person’s sincere religious beliefs.”
That opinion, issued in fall 2019 by the Arizona State Supreme Court, assumed an art form all its own – it was music in the ears of the plaintiffs in the case, calligrapher Joanna Duka and artist Breanna Koski.
It’s safe to assume that Joanna and Breanna, the founders of Brush & Nib Studio in Phoenix, never planned to wade into the tempestuous waters that so many other artists are being forced to navigate while pursuing artistic dreams. Their case arose from challenging a law that would have forced them – against their sincerely held religious beliefs – to create customized and elaborate wedding invitations with words and paintings celebrating same-sex wedding ceremonies. It would even have prevented them from explaining why they could only create art consistent with their views on marriage.
“The rights of free speech and free exercise, so precious to this nation since its founding, are not limited to soft murmurings behind the doors of a person’s home or church, or private conversations with like–minded friends and family. These guarantees protect the right of every American to express their beliefs in public. This includes the right to create and sell words, paintings, and art that express a person’s sincere religious beliefs.”
That opinion, issued in fall 2019 by the Arizona State Supreme Court, assumed an art form all its own – it was music in the ears of the plaintiffs in the case, calligrapher Joanna Duka and artist Breanna Koski.
It’s safe to assume that Joanna and Breanna, the founders of Brush & Nib Studio in Phoenix, never planned to wade into the tempestuous waters that so many other artists are being forced to navigate while pursuing artistic dreams. Their case arose from challenging a law that would have forced them – against their sincerely held religious beliefs – to create customized and elaborate wedding invitations with words and paintings celebrating same-sex wedding ceremonies. It would even have prevented them from explaining why they could only create art consistent with their views on marriage.
That’s good news for Lorie, but as we’ve seen too many times before, challenges continue to be raised against artists’ freedom of speech and religion. Jack is now in the middle of his third legal action—still being harassed by an activist attorney.
French painter Henri Matisse once famously mused, “creativity takes courage.” Today, on International Artist Day, Americans should celebrate the courage on display from Joanna, Breanna, Lorie, and Jack.
With their very livelihoods on the line, they have chosen to stand—not just for the creative work that they do, but for the freedom of all artists to create and speak, free from government punishment.
For an artist simply refusing a commision should not be an issue - “I do not want to do that” is easy enough to understand. As to the “why” - well, that does not matter.
It is my understanding that artists create works based on using themselves as a filter. You have to be able to “see.”
Graphic design is a different thing based on taking other people’s/companies priorities and rendering them into a pleasing composition.
The first is free speech, the second is anything but.
All of these cake shop type cases are going to have one result, destroying the American marketplace and replacing it with a marketplace where sellers may discriminate and opportunistically overcharge/collude and turn the marketplace that has been our strength into a scam economy. At best, Amazon and Walmart will displace more small businesses more quickly as a result if this carries on. At worst, this will enable a social credit system to be deployed.
You have libertarians on the Left getting in peoples faces to gain the right to marry non-traditional partners. You have libertarians on the Right lobbying for the right to discriminate against fellow citizens.
The way forward is for anyone to have the right to buy (paying the asking price) any product that is on offer for sale from any marketplace vendor, provided that the law is not broken in a regulated marketplace. The key is to avoid stupid regulations.
If you come across a liberal who thinks the law should be used to force people to bake cakes or draw something for pervert couples, ask them this:
Should the force of law be used to force a fashion designer to design a dress for Mrs. Trump?
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.