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March 16, 2014 • 6:24 am
Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
“We have happily done cakes for gay people, as well as people with different believes [sic].”
This sentence gives away the inconsistency of their position against gay marriage. Their bible and religion does not have an explicit rule against gay marriage; to the extent it has anything on the subject, it has general condemnation of homosexuality.
Trying to claim that their religion is okay with “cakes for gay people”, just not okay with “cakes for gay weddings,” is entirely made up stuff, even in the context of their religious belief.
“We are just a small family business trying to bring happiness with cake.”
That’s a good goal, and you are almost there, just try a little harder.
When it comes to this, I think people are making mountains out of molehills. There is no reason why anyone NEEDS a cake made by a particular baker (why would you even WANT to give your business to a bigot?).
If they don’t want to provide the service (it certainly is not even remotely an ‘essential service’), plenty of people would be more than happy to.
On one level we argue that gay marriage is only the business of the people involved and we’re not telling other people what to do… but in cases like this people have been successfully sued for their personal choice, so they are being forced to become involved.
Other than essential services, I’m not sure that anyone should be required to enter a contract against their will.
[Personal note: My wife and I (both atheists) were looking for a small venue for an ‘elopement style’ wedding. Some places made it plain they did not want non religious weddings. Big deal, we just went elsewhere and found someone who was fine with the idea. I would never even consider trying to sue to force them to accommodate us.]