An East Texas Bakery coming under fire for refusing to bake a gay wedding cake. Craig Hlavaty, Chron.com
A Christian couple that owns a bakery in Longview, Texas is coming under fire for refusing to make a cake for a same-sex couple in that area.
Edie and David Delorme own Kern’s Bake Shop. They attend a small Baptist church just outside of town.
According to Longview News-Journal the bakery was asked by a couple, Ben Valencia and Luis Marmolejo, to make a cake for their upcoming nuptials back on Feb. 17. The bakery’s owners told the couple that their faith precluded them from making the cake but they did suggest a handful of bakeries in the area that could suit their needs.Mr. Valencia and Mr. Marmolejo go on, later in the story, to both question the faith of the proprietors and to discuss the dehumanizing effects not having a specific shop make them a cake truly is. According to the owners, at the time the conversation was civil, so I've a feeling their deep-seated feelings of pain and suffering were seeded by others.
That doesn't make this a "baker friendly" post however. Because the outrage culture that's feeding stories of this type often takes one side or the other often excluding that both parties have warts. For example, take this quote from the cake-shop's lawyer, Michael Berry....
Berry says that the bakery remains open but they have expressed real concern that some of the internet chatter could have a financial impact on the business.
Berry is correct. The backlash and noise that is a result of a couple exercising their Constitutionally protected freedom of religion could produce negative economic consequences. The loss of revenues could even potentially cause them to either sell, or close permanently. On the other hand the ground-swell of financial support from those with similar beliefs might elevate their financial profile to as-yet unheard of levels. That any of these results is perfectly acceptable will be lost on most who follow this story.
The idea in America that free speech must not only be unrestricted, but uncontested as well is a dangerous trap into which many fall, and it leads to idiotic outcomes such as "safe spaces" and limits the germination of ideas. Yes, you have a freedom of speech, granted in the Constitution, that is (supposedly) to be free from government censure. What you do not have is a right to say anything at all and not be called out on it by the private market.
This goes the other way as well. Twitter, who in a high profile move have taken steps to practice open censorship against political ideals with which it disagrees is certainly acting within it's rights as a private company, but there is no hedge against them suffering financially if enough people decide that their decision makes them a less desirable platform with which to engage.
Conversely, Kern's Bake Shop should have the right to accept, or refuse business from GLBTPQ couples. Just as GLBTPQ couples/and their supporters, have the right to refuse to do business with them, boycott them, or generally promote (without using violence, slander or libel of course) people taking their business elsewhere.
We all have, ostensibly, the right to free speech and the right that the government does not attempt to regulate it (with a few, very, very limited exceptions). What we do not, or should not, have is the cost of that free speech always being zero.
Kern's Bake Shop should always have the right to refuse to do business with groups that it's ownership genuinely fees to be counter to their beliefs, just as consumers should always have the choice to take their business to companies that do. (As a matter of fact, in this case, it appears that Kern's provide the aggrieved with a list of options so that they could do so.) Then again, we are talking about a wedding cake, which is a luxury, and not something as fundamental as marriage, which the SCOTUS has declared to be a right.
If we ever do get to the place in the US where wedding cakes are considered to be valuable pieces of our civil rights then we might want to start checking the private rooms of the ruling class to see if any descendants of Ms. Antoinette are hanging around.
