Send in the Clowns
If anyone needed proof that the liberals on the Supreme Court are ideologically inclined rather interpreting the Constitution as they are supposed to do, you need look no further than the decision on gay marriage. By making gay marriage an absolute right, despite the fact there is no Constitutional backing for the decision, they are effectively ruling that the First Amendment is unconstitutional. For over 200 years, the Freedom of Religion has been an absolute right. Now, liberals are saying only for churches. The Constitution wasn’t written for groups, it was written for the individual.
Let’s examine the case of Sweet Cakes By Melissa. The bakery had baked cakes for a gay couple several times. One day the couple came in and requested a wedding cake. This changed the dynamic. They were being asked to participate in a gay wedding against their firmly held religious beliefs. They refused. That refusal led to harassment against the bakery, which forced them to close their doors. To make matters worse, Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian, who has set himself as a tin god based on his ideology has fined the Kleins, owners of the bakery $135,000 based on the claims by the lesbian customers who were refused service. The couple listed several dozen items that the denial of the cake caused including loss of appetite and weight gain. You can’t make this stuff up.
Avakian fined the Kleins $135,000 and also ordered them not to talk about the situation. He violated both their religious freedom and their Freedom of Speech. In other words, he revoked their First Amendment Rights in it’s entirety.
It is possible that the Supreme Court could eventually rule than an individual’s rights protect them from persecution for refusing to participate in something that goes against their religious beliefs, but I wouldn’t bet a nickel on it. But even if they did, by the time a ruling is made, how many Sweet Cakes will be forced to close and how many Kleins will be put in danger of losing their homes or having their wages garnished. Once released, that genie can never be returned to the bottle.
That decision by the current Supreme Court is a dark day indeed for the Judicial Branch of government and will go down in history as the day the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution is unconstitutional.
