Wedding cake for gay couple

I guess if you are being discriminated against you may feel you need to fight your corner. And yes it may have been a test case to highlight discrimination

Of course there is a biblical definition of marriage: it's between a man and a woman, not a man and a man, or a woman and a woman for that matter.

As Christians they were perfectly within their rights to refuse to promote something which goes against their beliefs. Good for them.

I absolutely think it was the right decision.

I can't help thinking the gay men were out to cause trouble right from the start.

After all, after their request was refused they could have just gone elsewhere, but no, they were determined to make a big fuss about it weren't they?

Ephesians 5. For husbands this mean love your wives

Genesis 2. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh.

These are what the marriage vows are based on.

Is there a biblical definition of marriage?

There are many people who are not prejudiced against gay people having a relationship, a civil partnership, but do not agree with gay marriage, PECS, which was the message of the campaign. As Christians they may believe in the biblical definition of 'marriage'.

The right to refuse a commission is not questioned. The reason for the refusal is .
The law has decided it was not discriminatory. My personal opinion is that the decision of the bakery was based on a personal prejudice against homosexuality. That feels wrong to me.

I don’t think it is a matter of discrimination. The baker surely has the right to turn down any commission for any reason? It is his bakery and if it makes him feel uncomfortable, then surely he could refuse the order.

If you offer a service, in this case cake decorating, but refuse one customer because you personally don't their message, I think there is an element of discrimination. If the message was breaking a law that is a different matter. A sad reflection of the intolerance that exists in some places.

Apologies for the digression

In addition, no law forces them to stock and sell fake holly, Santa hats, tinsel or reindeer noses.
I think this should all be banned anyway
Plastic!

Deck the halls with boughs of holly and ivy - a good pagan tradition!

That's my recollection Coolgran and I seem to remember that they were happy to make the make but not to add the message.

I agree with the ruling. It seems as if the man who ordered the cake believes he was being discriminated against because he was gay and that wasn't the case.

But i don’t think the Baker was discriminating, he doesn’t support the campaign to make same sex marriage legal, is this discrimination?

Well said Maw

One persons pettyness is another persons principles and lawful rights though.

Debatable - I have no argument with “celebrating Christmas” but I did say the spiritual side.
In addition, no law forces them to stock and sell fake holly, Santa hats, tinsel or reindeer noses.
I think it is the element of compulsion which most (or many) people take issue with.

Most people putting up decs at Christmas..rightly or wrongly.. believe they are doung so to celebrate Christmas.

I think the refusal to ice the words on the
cake was petty and small minded. It also depends on how the refusal was made. I have no idea if it was politely explained or bluntly rebuffed.

But Nelliemoser C decs rarely have much to do with the spiritual side of Christmas do they? Rather more pagan!

There is an Asian owned hardware store in Cheshire that sells just about everything. Including a big range of the most beautiful Christmas tree decorations I have seen. They are the first place to go for any such items . They know how to run a shop.

The baker in question had many shops around the local towns. The main bakery is within walking distance to me.
The shop did not refuse to sell him a cake. The did refuse to ice the particular wording. They did not refuse to serve the customer.

Eglantine
So could a shopkeeper refuse to sell Easter cards or Diwali cards. They could couldn’t they -just not stock them.
I think the Red Cross charity shops were only selling 'Christmas' cards with messages like 'Season's Greetings etc on them - not any with the word 'Christmas' which I believe they refused to stock.

maddyone I think Annie, if it was me, if I was the baker, I would feel I was discriminating against the Gay person. I would have just made the cake

I think the difference is that the cake was not being made especially for the person who ordered it, nor for his marriage (gay marriage is for some reason still illegal in NI) but it was for a campaign meeting.

Making racist or inflammatory comments about a person's race, sexual orientation or religion would presumably be considered a crime. "Support Gay Marriage" surely cannot be considered to be in that category, i.e. a hate crime?

I don't understand the most recent ruling. The bakers weren't denied their right to express their own point of view - they would be entitled to put a poster up opposing gay marriage if they chose to do so. As was said in an interview this evening, a baker decorating a cake with words does not necessarily mean that he/she endorses those words, any more than publishing a controversial book means that the publishers endorse the opinions within it.

Moocow The Entertainer owner is a fundamentalist /born again Christian and as you say stocks Nerf Guns, toy rifles & sexy Barbie teen type dolls etc but on religious grounds refuses to sell Harry Potter items as it is linked to magical /evil powers. The shops do not open on Sunday so all employees can go to church if they choose to.

A toy shop owner when harry potter came out refused to stock any products because of their own personal feelings. Stocked toy rifles though.