How is that visa versa? It is the gay community who is suing a person because they choose to live according to their beliefs? These people who choose to not participate in a specific task that they believe to be an insult to God's word are not telling you you cannot be gay.

So how can America be a free country if the people don't practice respect and common sense? I personally if I were a baker would bake the cake for a gay couple because I would simply put the context of marriage in that instance as a worldly view of what marriage means and not my religious view and I would bake the cake with the same level of service and grattitude I would for any one else. But like I said in my previous post, being a free country that practices freedom of religion as outlined in our constution, we should respect that when someone holds to the laws of their religion as do the jews, we should not force them to do otherwise.

So I ask the gay comminuity to back off and quit forcing your lifestyle on others. It's really not hard to do. There are so many bakers and photographers and businesses who will provide you service in this GREAT, FREE, country called the United States.

18 But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. 21 As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.” 22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.

You have the choice to either accept the Bible as true or reject it. I accept that the Bible is true.

The first amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Denying people service based on how I interpret my religion would fall under the part stating. "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;" See it is right there in the US Constitution in the First Amendment.

Now, say something stupid.

Thank you for your second paragraph. Go back and read all my other posts if you dare. We just disagree on who is forcing beliefs on whom. I advocate a live and let live attitude as much as possible, but I will not tolerate misconceptions and lies to be presented as the truth. Or if I am pushed, I will push back. It IS a free country, and I would gladly bake the cake just as you would but, on the other side of the coin, I will not do business where my patronage is not appreciated. If I came back to too harshly the first time my apologies.

Ever hear of the right to refuse service to ANYONE? If they own that store and are running it according to their standards, then they have a right to refuse service to anyone that they feel like. There is no law that says they MUST serve anyone that enters their doors. I have seen many signs on doors that say they have the right to refuse service to anyone. If I refused to do business with you, where does that give you the right to take me to court and force me to do business with you? You talk about your rights to get service from anyone. How about the store owners right's? Doesn't he have any rights? I think you are not only wrong, but wrong headed and just because 5 or so people on this board agree does not make it right.

What we have in this and similar anti-gay legislation in other states is not a protection of religious freedom but simply people tying their discrimination to a religious belief.

Two highly respected Evangelical authors, Merritt and Powers, give a brief summary way this law is bad Christianity. You can read the article in full here: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/23/conservative-christians-selectively-apply-biblical-teachings-in-the-same-sex-marriage-debate.html


"Many on the left and right can agree that nobody should be unnecessarily forced to violate their conscience. But in order to violate a Christian’s conscience, the government would have to force them to affirm something in which they don’t believe. This is why the first line of analysis here has to be whether society really believes that baking a wedding cake or arranging flowers or taking pictures (or providing any other service) is an affirmation. This case simply has not been made, nor can it be, because it defies logic. If you lined up 100 married couples and asked them if their florist “affirmed” their wedding, they would be baffled by the question."

"Strangely, conservative Christians seem to have little interest in this level of analysis and jump right to complaints about their legal and constitutional rights. It’s not that these rights don’t matter. Rather, they should be a SECONDARY ISSUE for Christians.
Before considering legal rights, Christians wrestling with this issue must first resolve the primary issue of whether the Bible calls Christians to deny services to people who are engaging in behavior they believe violates the teachings of Christianity regarding marriage. The answer is, it does not.

"Nor does the Bible teach that providing such a service should be construed as participation or affirmation. Yet Christian conservatives continue to claim that it does. So it seems that the backers of these bills don’t actually believe what they are saying. Because if they truly believe that a vendor service is an affirmation, then they need to explain why it is only gay and lesbian weddings that violate their conscience.

"Before agreeing to provide a good or service for a wedding, Christian vendors must verify that both future spouses have had genuine conversion experiences and are “equally yoked” (2 Corinthians 6:14) or they will be complicit with joining righteousness with unrighteousness. They must confirm that neither spouse has been unbiblically divorced (Matthew 19). If one has been divorced, vendors should ask why. Or perhaps you don’t even have to ask. You may already know that the couple’s previous marriages ended because they just decided it wasn’t working, not because there were biblical grounds for divorce. In which case, you can’t provide them a service if you believe such a service is affirming their union."


(Below are two more links on this subject. The first is an attempt at a rebuttal of the above article and the second is a support for the above.

http://erlc.com/article/are-christians-hypocritical-on-weddings-and-conscience-protection

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/tonyjones/2014/02/25/can-you-be-pro-gay-and-stay-evangelical-yes-and-no/