You know the Christian bakers who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay marriage? That was back in 2013, but it sparked a growing outrage against people exercising their religious liberty to disapprove of gay marriage. Last Friday an Oregon labor panel ruled on their case. The husband and wife who ran the bakery were found guilty of discrimination. They were fined $135,000, which is to go to the lesbian couple for their pain and suffering.
A crowd sourcing site raised $109,000 towards the fine in less than 8 hours, but protesters pressured the site to shut down the fundraising effort. No one will be allowed to help the offenders, who must bear their own punishment and somehow come up with the money themselves.
From Michael Avramovich, Today’s “Hostis Humani Generis” – Mere Comments:
Aaron and Melissa Klein, parents of five children and the owners of a now-closed bakery in Gresham, Oregon, declined to provide a “wedding” cake for a lesbian “marriage” in 2013. The Kleins made their decision based upon their strongly-held Christian beliefs. . . .(Well, the Kleins now faced the ire of the LGBTQ sturmtruppen. Laurel Bowman-Cryer and Rachel Bowman-Cryer. . . filed a complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (the “OBLI”). Last Friday, the OBLI issued its 110-page proposed order that ruled against the Kleins. . . . In its proposed order, the OBLI issued a fine against the Kleins for $135,000. The Honorable Judge awarded $60,000 in damages to Laurel Bowman-Cryer and $75,000 in damages to Rachel Bowman-Cryer for “emotional suffering stemming directly from unlawful discrimination.” . . .
Hopefully, there could even be an appellate judge who has some respect for the Kleins’ First Amendment constitutional rights. After all, it is a well-recognized truism that religious freedom is in the Constitution, but homosexual rights are not. As Ms. Harmon said in a recent interview, “[The Kleins] have the absolute right not to be forced to speak, not to be forced to engage in an event or create art if they don’t want to do that.”
But as was the case with Memories Pizza of Walkerton, Indiana, a “GoFundMe” campaign to support the Klein family was started last Friday afternoon shortly after the OBLI judgment was published. Within less than eight hours, the crowdfunding campaign supporting the Kleins collected more than $109,000. Whereas the Homosexualists and their allies were caught flat-footed by the overwhelming outpouring of financial support for the owners of Memories Pizza, this time the Homosexualists were lying in wait like ravenous hyenas, and began their own campaign to press GoFundMe to terminate the Klein campaign. As if on cue, GoFundMe, not wishing to earn the opprobrium of the Homosexualists, immediately terminated the campaign to support the Kleins by citing a violation of its terms of service.
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