The “tolerance” war goes on
From lifesitenews.com:
NEWSFREEDOM,GENDER,HOMOSEXUALITY,POLITICS – U.S.Wed Dec 19, 2018 – 11:40 am EST
Christian baker sues Colorado officials for pressuring him to make LGBT cakes
DENVER, December 19, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – The Christian baker in Colorado who won a high-profile religious liberty case earlier this year is back in court, this time going on offense against the state officials he says are continuing to persecute him for refusing to create pro-LGBT products.
This summer, the U.S. Supreme Courtruled7-2 that Colorado officials had discriminated against the Masterpiece Cakeshop owner’s religious beliefs while trying to force him to bake a cake for a same-sex “wedding.” But on June 26, Autumn Scardinafileda complaint against Phillips for declining to bake a cake that would be pink on the inside and blue on the outside, to celebrate his “transition” from male to female.
Two days later, Colorado Civil Rights Division (CCRD) director Aubrey Elenis wrote a letter concluding there was probable cause to conclude Phillips had unlawfully denied Scardina “equal enjoyment of a place of public accommodation.” It ordered the two to enter compulsory mediation to reach an amicable resolution.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the religious liberty nonprofit that represented Phillips in his original case, responded by filing a federal lawsuit against outgoing Democrat Gov. John Hickenlooper and the state civil rights commission, accusing them of ignoring the Supreme Court’s ruling and continuing to discriminate against Phillips’ faith.
“Jack had no choice but to file a federal lawsuit to defend himself from this targeting,” ADF’s Maureen Collinswrote. “He should not have to fear government punishment for his faith when he opens his cake shop for business every day. But it appears that Colorado will not stop harassing him until he closes down or agrees to violate his faith.”
The case went before the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado on Tuesday, Colorado Public Radioreports.
Jim Campbell, an ADF attorney representing Phillips, argued that the commissioners, all of whom were appointed by Hickenlooper, are acting as both accusers and judges in the case, which is particularly concerning in light of bias they’ve expressed against Phillips online.
“One current commissioner has publicly referred to Jack as a ‘hater’ on Twitter, one of several indications of the commission’s ongoing bias against Jack and his beliefs,” Campbellsaidprior to the hearing. “We’re asking the federal court to immediately stop Colorado’s efforts to punish Jack in order to shield him from a biased agency and ensure that he is not forced to express messages that violate his faith.”
Attorneys representing the state responded that the commission is merely enforcing duly-enacted state laws against “discrimination,” and that Phillips should be equally willing to make a pink-and-blue cake for a “gender transition celebration” as he would if the same design were requested for any other purpose.
Judge Wiley Daniel rejected ADF’s request for a preliminary injunction as overly broad, but gave them additional time to craft a narrower request with more specificity about the actions they wanted to stop. “Whatever I do here will be appealed,” he added.
“At this point, they’re just targeting Christians. This is outright Christian persecution,” Colorado Christian University policy analyst Jeff Hunt, a friend of Phillips,toldCBN News. “Jack Phillips is very much a canary in the coal mine with regard to the very important legal issues we’re going to be facing.”
Though many conservatives celebrated the earlier Supreme Court ruling as a win for religious liberty,others warnedthat the narrow ruling ultimately failed to solve the problem because it was about the hostility the commission showed Phillips rather than his right not to bake certain cakes.
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