A thread on the #GayWeddingCake decision, asking a simple question:
How can a gay guy support the Christian baker?
To the thread!
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by @21_salming view original on Twitter
Let’s start with a scenario: I decide to get married. (Gulp)
First, I understand that society is evolving. My religion is evolving. My family is evolving.
That’s just life.
To those that reject me, I offer grace, love, & patience. In my quiet moments, I feel pangs of sorrow.
Yet a wedding only requires me, my love, & an officiant. Maybe a witness.
I don’t have the right to force anyone to join. That includes an Orthodox Jew or evangelical Christian to officiate.
My right to wed doesn’t trump their right to a sincerely held religious belief.
Meanwhile, the Gov’t must grant me a marriage license. Why?
Our republic rests on protecting unalienable rights. Life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness.
A central path to happiness for most Americans is marriage. It’s the bedrock of social, financial, & emotional stability
Meanwhile, if you’re a government worker who objects to issuance, tough cookies. (I’m looking at you, #KimDavis)
While on the clock, we must faithfully execute our duties. It is not a time to evangelize or stand our religious ground.
If that’s too hard, it’s time for a new job
That leaves us, though, with the legally & morally sticky areas. Like the florists. Musicians. Photographers.
The bakers.
Should the Gov’t force them to serve folks like me or face fines / jail if they refuse?
#SCOTUS ruled in the Colorado case that, well... it depends. For this particular CO baker, they decided overwhelmingly (7-2) he was wrongly persecuted.
However, Justice #Kennedy made clear that in another case / time, it could be different.
That’s why it was a narrow ruling.
This means we must still wrestle with each case as it comes.
My view: a desire for a cake does not trump a baker’s religious beliefs. His faith is a sacred, foundational right. Our republic depends on these liberties.
My want of a cake / flowers / etc simply doesn’t come close.
None of this means I can’t find remedy with what I see as an injustice.
Maybe I start a letter campaign. Or open my own bakery.
Or maybe I buy the guy a cup of coffee. We talk. We listen. We grow.
That’s how it should be. That’s how America wrestles w/ opposing beliefs.
A line is prob crossed, however, when I can no longer find reasonable accommodation of my needs.
For instance, in my rural county, there’s only one florist.
I imagine #SCOTUS will be hearing cases like this in the future. And I suspect that the ruling will not be 7-2 but 5-4.
Bottom line: If we, as a nation, are to deny someone their #ReligiousFreedom, we better make damn sure the reason for doing so is of grave consequence to the offended.
Otherwise, we risk more than just a lost cake.
We risk the very liberties that make America so exceptional.
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The Times wants us to believe our Russian intel sources have dried up.
Reporters @julianbarnes & @AllMattNYT shared classified details that speak of our struggling clandestine efforts against Putin & his regime.
Never mind that highlighting our weakness atrenghrens his hand.
To wit, this para:
“Informants close to Putin are very rare... The United States, in recent years, has had only a few, and at times been reliant on only one or two for the most important insights on Mr. Putin, according to former officials.”
Capitalism has eliminated more poverty than any economic system on the planet.
Period.
Is it a perfect system? Not by a long shot. But Ocasio’s dream would unquestionably put at risk millions of people who have climbed out of poverty.
Just ask anyone who lives in Venezuela.
Meanwhile, Ocasio‘s promise of free govt services is a joke.
1) Free healthcare for all? She has no plan to pay for it. 2) Free housing? No money left after free healthcare. 3) Free college? But seriously, we’d be out of money.
Most of us would agree that a single death of an innocent person by a police officer is one too many.
Black or white.
Police departments agree. They have training & oversight to ensure shootings don't happen or officers are punished when an unjustifiable killing occurs.
#BLM argues that, regardless, the system isn't working; cops are still targeting black people w/ violence or avoiding punishment when caught.
It's a belief founded in America's very real & ugly history.
A brief review of that shameful past is here: wapo.st/2NqtYLD