Christian Bakers Fined, Gagged in Gay Cake Case

[Chad]

An Oregon official certified a ruling Thursday imposing a $135,000 fine against Christian bakers who refused to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple.

The official then ordered the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa not to speak publicly about their conscientous decision to follow their religious beliefs by not baking any cakes for same-sex weddings.

The company has gone out of business due to the legal battle.

CBN News spoke with Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, about the massive fine and gag order imposed on the Christian bakers. Click play to see the interview.

An article by The Daily Signal, a publication of the Heritage Foundation, states that Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian ordered Aaron and Melissa Klein to "cease and desist" from openly professing that they won't serve gay weddings because of their Christian beliefs.

A donation page has been set up for the Kleins on the Christian fundraising site, Continue to Give.

Avakian cited an Oregon state law in his ruling:

"The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries hereby orders (the Kleins) to cease and desist from publishing, circulating, issuing or displaying, or causing to be published … any communication to the effect that any of the accommodations … will be refused, withheld from or denied to, or that any discrimination be made against, any person on account of their sexual orientation."

On their Facebook page, the Kleins responded:

"This effectively strips us of all our First Amendment rights. According to the state of Oregon we neither have freedom of religion or freedom of speech."

The Kleins say they will appeal the ruling.

 

[Greg Gordon]

let us pray for them and that God would be glorified through this.

 

[Chad]

Psalm 55:22
Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.

 

[mikej]

Psalm 55:22
Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.

This kind of thing has been in the works for years the powers that be in the W.H has joined leagues with Holly Wood homosexuals who do own the progressive news networks as well. The cunning work of political correctness devised to shame one into submission misusing the constitution to do it.First by changing the name example;abortion to women's rights or human rights to promote same sex marriage.These are the same super wealthy that practice Kabbala. In other words doing in opposition every mandate of God to usher in the anti Christ.the only hope we as believers have is to pray the spirit of Elisha is reserved by all to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers and to tear down the alters of Baal.the significance of this is more than most can imagine. Only a great coming out of her my people will save us. God bless to you all pray now like never before

 

[DosiaSP]

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any creature,. shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ our LORD.
Romans 8:35, 37-39

LORD, take this couples' case and work it out to the good so it will benefit all christians to express their views freely, In Jesus Name, Amen

 

[tomatobeta]

"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ."

Ephesians 6:5

 

[mikej]

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any creature,. shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ our LORD.
Romans 8:35, 37-39

LORD, take this couples' case and work it out to the good so it will benefit all christians to express their views freely, In Jesus Name, Amen

Huh? Don't see much good going to come from it.But yeah what ever it is I hope so too. The poor people just got fined over $100 k hey I'm praying for them the two girls have made there choice.Sure I hope they find there way too obviously. Come on man

 

[Daniel Marsh]

I wish this was a surprise to me. I expect a lot more of this kind of thing.

Thanks
Daniel

 

[mikej]

I wish this was a surprise to me. I expect a lot more of this kind of thing.

Thanks
Daniel

I wish this was a surprise to me. I expect a lot more of this kind of thing.

Thanks
Daniel

yes sir. If it is a book of example when this behavior was prevalent in society gods answer to it was swift and sever. Just sayin

 

[Kirby D. P.]

The foregoing commenters here are self-righteous, unchristian hypocrites in the most Biblical sense. A merchant who provides services to a community and withholds that service from peaceful, law abiding members of that community, even sinners, has no leg to stand on claiming that it be out of any principles engendered by Christ.

When the female sinner of Luke 7 anointed Jesus’s feet, she did not “undo” her sins. She declared love of the Lord. For THIS ALONE was she forgiven.

What a lesbian couple does within the circle of their own private relationship, and whatever sin that may or may not constitute, is a matter between them and Christ. The bakers in this story show not righteousness, but intolerance, unforgivingness and prejudice. And, when they defend their actions by resort to “Christian” morality, they add hypocrisy to their shame. They may personally find homosexuality immoral and amoral, but the way they TREAT homosexuals in their community by denying them service when they knowingly serve OTHER sinners (for are we not ALL sinners?) is itself immoral and amoral. Have they baked cakes for adulterers? For divorcees? For money lenders? For unconfessed criminals? Almost certainly. And Jesus WOULD NOT have enjoined them not to. But because the "sins" of this lesbian couple are uniquely offensive to the bakers personally (as opposed to spiritually) they feel justified in singling them out for unequal treatment. Shame indeed.

I do not pray to support these bakers in their bigotry. I only hope that, through the pain of having been fined and stigmatized as bigots (which at the moment they are), they find the wisdom and conscience to realize how very wrongheaded they have been.

 

[paulivans]

look like fake christians trying to scare christians with this fake story

 

[AnAngryMan]

Do these bakers refuse to bake cakes for couples where the woman is not a virgin? What if the couple have kids outside of wedlock?

Also, serious question to everyone supporting this. If a Christian interpreted the Old Testament to support segregation (which was near universal less than 100 years ago), would you be ok with racist bakers denying service to people on the basis of their ethnicity?

 

[mikej]

Do these bakers refuse to bake cakes for couples where the woman is not a virgin? What if the couple have kids outside of wedlock?

Also, serious question to everyone supporting this. If a Christian interpreted the Old Testament to support segregation (which was near universal less than 100 years ago), would you be ok with racist bakers denying service to people on the basis of their ethnicity?

The bakers stood on there conviction of what God hself called filthyness.what your reading I not a self help novel turning grace into lasciviousness.

 

[RJ]

An Oregon official certified a ruling Thursday imposing a $135,000 fine against Christian bakers who refused to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple.

The official then ordered the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa not to speak publicly about their conscientous decision to follow their religious beliefs by not baking any cakes for same-sex weddings.

The company has gone out of business due to the legal battle.

CBN News spoke with Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, about the massive fine and gag order imposed on the Christian bakers. Click play to see the interview.

An article by The Daily Signal, a publication of the Heritage Foundation, states that Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian ordered Aaron and Melissa Klein to "cease and desist" from openly professing that they won't serve gay weddings because of their Christian beliefs.

A donation page has been set up for the Kleins on the Christian fundraising site, Continue to Give.

Avakian cited an Oregon state law in his ruling:

"The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries hereby orders (the Kleins) to cease and desist from publishing, circulating, issuing or displaying, or causing to be published … any communication to the effect that any of the accommodations … will be refused, withheld from or denied to, or that any discrimination be made against, any person on account of their sexual orientation."

On their Facebook page, the Kleins responded:

"This effectively strips us of all our First Amendment rights. According to the state of Oregon we neither have freedom of religion or freedom of speech."

The Kleins say they will appeal the ruling.

Strap in and hang on tight, we are all in for a bumpy ride. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide your faith and God's principles!

 

[Kirby D. P.]

The bakers stood on there conviction of what God hself called filthyness.what your reading I not a self help novel turning grace into lasciviousness.

No. God calls it an abomination for a man to lie with a man as with a woman and for a woman to lie with a woman as with a man. If you accept Christ then you accept that the OT punishment for that sin was abrogated through His sacrifice on the cross. In any case, there is no injunction against purchasing or selling a wedding cake for two women. This is a case where the bakers' own personal, individual sensibilities are being offended and they are attempting to hide behind judgements only God can make in order to nurse their own bigotries.

 

[B-A-C]

If you accept Christ then you accept that the OT punishment for that sin was abrogated through His sacrifice on the cross.

So anything goes now? Child molesting. Wife beating. Murder. It's all good now since Jesus "abrogated" the law. Although the Bible says he didn't come to abolish the law.

 

[Kirby D. P.]

So anything goes now? Child molesting. Wife beating. Murder. It's all good now since Jesus "abrogated" the law. Although the Bible says he didn't come to abolish the law.

No. Anything does NOT go. Child molestation, spousal abuse and murder are all still sins, AND they are crimes of man.

Yes, Jesus did not come to undo the law, which is why these and many other things are still sins. (However, there ARE sins that Jesus explicitly neutered. If you’ve ever indulged in the Old Testament abomination of a ham sandwich you have benefited thereby.)

But Jesus does not enjoin us to judge and punish in His place. He reserves that power to God alone. We may rule and judge each other according to human laws, of which, “Thou shalt not bake a cake for two women who want to be married” is not one. Rejecting service to a couple who were harming no one is a punitive act, endorsed neither by Jesus nor by the State. And it is hypocritical if the bakers serve anyone who is guilty of any other abomination. Like reading horoscopes (abomination) or turning on the lights on Saturday (abomination) or failing to kill a known witch (abomination). It’s cafeteria Christianity at its worst.

You don’t have to aid someone in committing a crime or a sin (which are distinct, if sometimes overlapping, things). Expressing any love, even romantic love, for another human being is no sin. The love expressed by Jesus for His Church, the love he enjoyed among his apostles, the love the sinner woman had for Him, the love between David and his male courtiers all evoke some sense of romantic devotion. The sin is very specifically in the act of sexual congress between two same-sex people.

The bakers were not being asked to participate in such a sin, nor enable it nor even witness or even acknowledge it. They were asked simply to bake a cake for two people who (ostensibly) love each other. And they responded with prejudice, fear and/or hate. And have tried to dress it up as being pious.

Puh-lease.

 

[Brad Huber]

Expressing any love, even romantic love, for another human being is no sin. .

Puh-lease.

Fallen angels hated God because He used the flood to destroy all mankind save 8. This included their children whom they LOVED. They loved their children more than they loved God. Have you got a clue what that means?

 

[AnAngryMan]

The bakers stood on there conviction of what God hself called filthyness.what your reading I not a self help novel turning grace into lasciviousness.

Do they stand on that conviction for couples where the women is not a virgin?

 

[Shutterbug]

Speaking of political correctness, I wonder if there was a Bible in the court room upon which people "could swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God". Or, do they not say that anymore in Oregon courts?