Christian Baker Refuses to Be Bullied by State Civil Rights Commission

“A family owned bakery has been ordered to make wedding cakes for gay couples and guarantee that its staff be given comprehensive training on Colorado’s anti-discrimination laws after the state’s Civil Rights Commission determined the Christian baker violated the law by refusing to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, in Lakewood, Colorado was directed to change his store policies immediately and force his staff to attend the training sessions. For the next two years, Phillips will also be required to submit quarterly reports to the commission to confirm that he has not turned away customers based on their sexual orientation. ... Nicolle Martin, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom, called the ruling Orwellian and said they are considering an appeal. ... Phillips, who is celebrating his 40th year in business this week, told me he's not going to create any new policies. ‘My old ones are pretty adequate as far as I’m concerned,’ he said. ‘I don't plan on giving up my faith and changing because of that.’... ‘My God is bigger than any bullies they've got,’ he said. ‘I don't worry about it. I honor my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be true to what He wants me to do.’ And the Civil Rights Commission is going to have a mighty hard time trying to ‘rehabilitate’ Phillips and his staff. ‘My 87-year-old mom works here and she says she's not being rehabilitated,’ he said. ... And should the highest court in the land force Jack to do the bidding of homosexuals? ‘There’s civil disobedience,’ Phillips told me. ‘We’ll see what happens. I’m not giving up my faith. Too many people have died for this faith to give it up that easily.’ Meanwhile, the bullying tactics of the militant gay rights community have not hampered the bakery’s bottom line. They've gotten so much business from the sales of cookies and brownies; they've temporarily stopped making wedding cakes. ‘Obey Christ rather than worry about what man can do to you,’ Phillips said.”

(“Baker Forced to Make Gay Wedding Cakes,” Todd Starnes, Christian Post, June 4, 2014)

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