UK High Court gets it right in Cake Wars balanced Ruling

[Daniel2]

My posting here has dwindled of late as many of the topics I’m most interested and involved in have declined (which I imagine may likely be viewed as a relief to some/many 😉 ), and as other gospel-centered topics have filled the front page, I debated whether or not to even share this post. 

After reflection, I felt that this article would (hopefully) be met with at least some positive reactions by active members of the board, in that I think it’s topic seeks to bring balance to the divisive debate over speech vs. equal protections.

From what I read of the court’s ruling and as reported below, I agree with them entirely.

On the other hand, I personally find the quotations of the gay activist to be entirely disingenuous and distasteful, let alone severely misguided and outright wrong in his approach. (The second link at the bottom by the BBC has photos of the Bert and Ernie “Support Gay Marriage” cake).

I share this with the hope of bringing balance and a peaceful truce we can all live with in the future here in the states. 

Quote

UK's top court: Refusing to make cake with 'Support Gay Marriage' slogan not discrimination

https://thehill.com/policy/international/410799-uks-top-court-refusing-to-make-cake-with-support-gay-marriage-slogan-not

October 10, 2018 - 02:25 PM EDT

BY MEGAN KELLER

The United Kingdom's highest court ruled in favor of Christian bakers who declined to bake a cake with the slogan "Support Gay Marriage," in a unanimous decision Wednesday.

"In reaching the conclusion that there was no discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in this case, I do not seek to minimise or disparage the very real problem of discrimination against gay people," president of the Supreme Court Lady Hale wrote in the decision.

"It is deeply humiliating, and an affront to human dignity, to deny someone a service because of that person’s race, gender, disability, sexual orientation or any of the other protected personal characteristics," it reads. "But that is not what happened in this case and it does the project of equal treatment no favours to seek to extend it beyond its proper scope."

Daniel and Amy McArthur, the owners of Ashers Baking Company in Northern Ireland, originally took the cake order in 2014, which requested that the cake be iced with the Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie, alongisde the slogan "Support Gay Marriage," BBC reported.

Amy McArthur later contacted the man who requested it and said the bakery could not make such a cake "in conscience."

The customer, Gareth Lee who is a gay rights activist, ordered the cake for a private event campaigning for same sex marriage, according to the outlet. Lee sued the company for discrimination based on sexual orientation and political beliefs, according to the BBC.

"I know a lot of people will be glad to hear this ruling today, because this ruling protects freedom of speech and freedom of conscience for everyone," Daniel McArthur said after the ruling, BBC reported.

But, Lee said, "To me, this was never about conscience or a statement. All I wanted to do was to order a cake in a shop."

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, which backed Lee's suit, said it would examine the implications of the ruling, according to BBC.

"There is a concern that this judgement may raise uncertainty about the application of equality law in the commercial sphere, both about what businesses can do and what customers may expect," the organization's chief commissioner Michael Wardlow said, according to the news agency.

In its ruling, the court cited the U.S. Supreme Court case, Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, in which the owner of the Colorado-based Masterpiece Cakeshop refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding.

"The important message from the Masterpiece Bakery case is that there is a clear distinction between refusing to produce a cake conveying a particular message, for any customer who wants such a cake, and refusing to produce a cake for the particular customer who wants it because of that customer’s characteristics," the opinion reads.

"One can debate which side of the line particular factual scenarios fall. But in our case there can be no doubt," Hale wrote. "The bakery would have refused to supply this particular cake to anyone, whatever their personal characteristics."

The BBC:  https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-45789759?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

Edited October 11, 2018 by Daniel2

[provoman]

the UK ruling falls in line with freedom of speech - gov cannot compel speech.

[LittleNipper]

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Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every purpose under the heavens:

John 2:15 So HE made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. Matthew 23:33 "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?

Edited October 11, 2018 by LittleNipper