Posted on 07/06/2015 5:27:22 AM PDT by Kaslin
In one of the most egregious anti-Christian acts committed by a state official in recent memory, Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian not only upheld the ridiculous $135,000 fine levied against Aaron and Melissa Klein for declining to bake a cake for a lesbian commitment ceremony, but he ordered the Kleins to “cease and desist” from making any public comments about their religious convictions relative to this case.
This is an outrage and a travesty, and it must be rebuked and resisted. Who does Mr. Avakian think he is?
The fine itself is unconscionable, as the amount of $135,000 was determined by tallying up the alleged emotional damages experienced by the lesbian couple, who as Thomas D. Williams noted, “accused the Kleins of ‘mental rape,’ adding that they had suffered a ‘loss of appetite’ and ‘impaired digestion,’ which remarkably led to ‘weight gain.’”
If anyone here was “raped,” it was the Kleins (by the government) not this couple (by the Kleins).
The list of 178 (!) purported damages compiled by the two lesbians includes the following (this is not a spoof; the list is real): “concern for privacy at home; concern for safety at home; dislike of going to work; distrust of former friends; distrust of men; fear of not being able to get another job; fear of being alone; felt mentally raped, dirty and shameful; future job opportunities damaged; hysteria; inability to find work; irritability with family and friends; loss of opportunity for bonding with infant; migraine headaches; nightmares; not wanting husband (?) to touch her; pale and sick at home after work” – just to name a few.
The proper response of the court (and Mr. Avakian) should have been, “Are you kidding me? All this because a Christian couple declined your business on religious grounds at a time when same-sex ‘marriage’ wasn’t even legal here?”
As Laurie Higgins observed, “This wowzer list of ailments purportedly resulted from not being able to purchase a wedding cake from one bakery. How, pray tell, do these two function in a diverse world?”
I don’t doubt that the women felt hurt, but they are either completely exaggerating what they experienced or they have quite a few other, deep emotional problems that need to be addressed that are no fault of the Kleins. On either score, any fair court would have recognized the absurdity of the list.
Yet in the increasingly anti-Christian, pro-homosexualist world in which we live, the Kleins were found guilty of being true to their faith and punished severely for it.
Perhaps the Kleins can countersue the government of Oregon for 10 trillion dollars based on the emotional damages they have experienced, not to mention the loss of their very livelihood due to the attack that has come against them? If the lesbian couple deserved $135,000, then the Kleins deserve at least 10 trillion.
Seriously, though, did these women really not know that plenty of Christians do not support gay “marriage” and cannot in good conscience participate in it? Were they suddenly so traumatized by something they have known to be true all their lives?
But not only was the fine completely out of line, Avakian’s reasoning was just as faulty, as he claimed that, “This case is not about a wedding cake or a marriage. It is about a business’s refusal to serve someone because of their sexual orientation. Under Oregon law, that is illegal.”
This is patently false, since the Kleins had never once refused to serve homosexuals. They simply refused to participate in a gay “wedding” ceremony by providing the cake.
But why play by the rules when it’s open season on Christians and their faith?
Avakian, however, was not done. As Williams explains, “The Oregon official imposed a gag order on the couple, mandating that they ‘cease and desist’ from speaking publicly about not wanting to bake cakes for same-sex weddings based on their Christian beliefs.”
To ask once again, who does Mr. Avakian think he is?
Thankfully, the Kleins have not backed down, as Aaron said in an interview following the verdict: “He wants to silence anyone who opposes his point of view. Unfortunately, he’s doing this with the wrong Christian, because I fight back.”
This is yet another example of gay activist overreach (either by gay activists themselves or by their straight allies), and it must be confronted in the strongest of terms.
To state things, then, plainly and directly: Mr. Avakian and the State of Oregon, your bullying will backfire. You are on the wrong side of justice, and your attempts to steal our freedoms of religion and speech will be to your lasting shame.
I sincerely pray that you will humble yourself and recognize the error of your ways.
I’m sure the Kleins would like nothing more than to forgive you to your face and give you a great big hug. Not only are Christians moral people, they are forgiving people.
But please do not associate forgiveness with weakness. We are quite committed to stand for what is right.
As Aaron stated clearly, “For years, we’ve heard same-sex marriage will not affect anybody. I’m here firsthand to tell everyone in America that it has already impacted people. Christians, get ready to take a stand. Get ready for civil disobedience.”
That time has come.
“This is a war on the Bible and it’s claim to authority.”
This is exactly what my pastor said this past Sun. morning. I believe we have turned the corner in human history where we are headed for Daniel’s 70th week. The hatred is Satanic in nature and beyond explaining. Our enemy knows his time is short and he’s desperate. We must be faithful unto death. Not easy, but a great cloud of witnesses have preceded us to show that it can be done. I often think of Psalm 2 regarding the times we live in.
Confederates aren't a protected class in Louisiana. Neither are homosexuals so the Walmart could have refused to bake them a cake and there would have been no legal recourse against them.
This is confusing. Didn't they refuse to serve homosexuals when they refused to make the cake?
Oregon like so many “blue” states... the map at link says it all. Very few Democrat machine run areas turn the state blue... where votes are “manufactured”?
pray for our enemy in the State of Oregon.as it is written.
“If you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.” The day is coming, and I believe we will stand up for Christ and Christian principles and “having done all [we] can, to stand”.
If you would like more information about what's happening in Oregon, please FReepmail me.
I lost my Oregon list when my computer crashed last year, so please send me your name by FReepmail if you want to be on this list.
If a black is refused service at a restaurant, that black might be due a fine for discrimination, not the black person's entire family.
This will not stand, of course.
I’ve heard people say that the ones who want churches to lose their tax-exempt status had better be careful what they wish for. The churches will then be free to say whatever they want, including supporting candidates.
Game changer, possibly Christians 1, vindictive anti-Christians 0.
Yes...I know...I live in one of those red counties closest to the NW Oregon Coast...where the Capitol is...
The hatred is indeed Satanic in origin but not that difficult to explain. It’s precisely what manifests when one breaks the first commandment (of the “10 Commandments” and the “new” command Jesus gave).
Love the Lord with all your heart and understanding. When one doesn’t do this, false idols are substituted in a failing attempt to fill the void only God can satisfy.
This story is just one result of such counterfeit devotion. Every human being has the exact same need for God. When it’s not filled by the only One who can, other methods are inevidibly employed to destruction.
I think we should stop honoring hysterical absurdity by calling it “Progressive”. In reality these people are REgressive, they want us to regress to a time when the “high priests” could say that someone has offended “the gods” and order any punishment up to and including being thrown into a volcano or whatever other form of execution occurred to the priests. That is really what this whole farce amounts to, the Kleins have offended the gods of PC and the high priest has ordered them to be punished, it has absolutely nothing to do with reality. The age of Obama is now the age of national hysteria. The hysteria is so widespread that some idiots will actually still claim that this IS a free country as opposed to saying it USED TO BE a free country.
One persons confusion is another persons perplexing.
>>The left fully intends a full-on Christian holocaust.
No, they really don’t. They want us, our labor and our smarts and our ethics, to serve them. After all, their movement is made up of nothing but slackers, academics, and the wealthy. They know that Christianity is weak in this country (Barna: 80% profess Christianity, 20% attend church) and that they can cut a portion of the weak out of the herd with every “social issue” that they can turn into an “our way or the highway” debate. They can even preserve much of the Puritan ethics that American Protestantism possesses, regardless of denomination, by giving the weak churches that preach mostly Progressive messages with just enough gospel thrown in to make it seem authentic.
They want real Christianity distilled down to the hard-core believers who are willing to sacrifice “our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor”. And they intend to make us doe exactly that. But, there really won’t be that many once the SHTF.
>>I think we should stop honoring hysterical absurdity by calling it “Progressive”.
They ARE Progressives. It is what they have been for over 100 years. They were Progressives when “Liberals” were people like us who believed in freedom.
You, like many here, misunderstand the “progress” they stand for. They stand for a “progress” in human development, where we move beyond religion and national borders and even family. Their “freedom” is the individual living free of any associations, except for the association of humanity, specifically the “Progressed” humanity.
Their ideal is one that assumes that humans are good and that society makes us bad. It is lie told by Satan to his followers since he first spoke to Eve. Let them call themselves Progressive. In fact, insist upon it! Then educate people what they mean and ask them the important question: “How do you plan to make that happen?”
>> In reality these people are REgressive, they want us to regress to a time when the “high priests” could say that someone has offended “the gods” and order any punishment up to and including being thrown into a volcano or whatever other form of execution occurred to the priests.
That’s not REgressive at all. That is the natural state of humanity. That is what humans do when they do not have the Holy Spirit. Prior to that first Pentecost when the believers received the Holy Spirit for the first time, that was the state of all humanity except for a select few. In our time and place, we see the Spirit-infused human as the default and then we are shocked at the things that Islam does. Well, those people live as Natural Man and they are what we would be without the Spirit. Perhaps they are regressive for thinking that they can drive the Holy Spirit out of humanity, but its better to let them keep their chosen name and then to EDUCATE people.
I disagree, they want to sacrifice humans to appease their false gods, THAT IS REGRESSIVE when compared to what this country used to stand for.
>>I disagree, they want to sacrifice humans to appease their false gods, THAT IS REGRESSIVE when compared to what this country used to stand for.
Well, good luck with getting them to accept Regressive as their name. Not every supervillain is stupid enough to name his minions The Legion of Doom. Most of them just call them the Civilian Defense Corps or Police Department. I live in the real world, not the isolated world of the conservative internet.
I'd love to know if OR was that way 100 years or so ago...
ff
Getting THEM to accept the name has nothing to do with it, what I am saying is that WE should stop calling them progressives. They are not leading in the way of progress. If they started calling themselves the angels of mercy I don’t think we would agree with them on that, I don’t think we should agree with them on progressive either.
By the way, you don’t have to agree with them on their being progressive to live in the real world. They don’t call us conservatives as a compliment, to them it is an insult to call someone conservative. We need to call ourselves by a better name, I just don’t know what it should be at this point. We should not appear to be against progress, we just need to stop appearing to agree that these people who call themselves progressives represent progress, they most certainly DON’T. They represent willful ignorance, mendacity and pretty well the exact opposite of what they claim to represent. One of the primary tools of the left is the control of language and we need to fight them tooth and nail on that front. Referring to them as progressives, even with disdain, is falling into their trap. Allowing them to get away with dropping the term “global warming” and using “climate change” instead is also falling into their trap. Everytime they say climate change we should ask them if by that they mean global warming and if they say yes then ask them why they stopped SAYING global warming. If they are silly enough to say no then ask them what exactly do they mean, then laugh in their faces. I believe one of the main reasons they have gained so much ground is that we have ceded them control of the language. They pretend that words mean only what THEY say they mean, even though only a very few at the top could pass an eighth grade English exam from 1955. We have even let them get away with saying, “A woman’s right to choose”. Anytime someone says that you should ask,”Right to choose what?” It sounds terrible to be against a woman’s right to choose but it doesn’t sound quite so bad to be against a woman’s right to choose to kill an unborn child. Why don’t we ever hear of a man’s right to choose? Doesn’t a man have a choice about anything?
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