Washington DC – The Supreme Court of the United States of America is hearing opening legal arguments from the LGBTQ affiliated Church of Sodom and evangelical America.
Genesis of the Controversy
Canard vs. Christian Soldier Bakery is tale many of Americans have heard before. A bakery owned by an evangelical refuses to make a wedding cake for a gay couple because it goes against their sincerely held religious beliefs. Typically, religious liberty laws are invoked to defend the bigoted bakers. However, in Canard vs. Christian Soldier Bakery, the gay couple is claiming they were simply exercising their religious rights in ordering their wedding cake.
Andrew Canard and James Gould are members of the nationally organized Church of Sodom (CoS). Although CoS is a small faith, the IRS recognizes it for tax purposes as a religious organization. The CoS fervently believes the LGBTQ community is sacred.
On June 27, 2016, the happy couple entered the Christian Soldier Bakers located in King’s Point, Kentucky and requested an all-white multi-tiered confection boasting pastel flowers. Husband and wife bakery team Martha and Elliot Hall cordially refused to provide services to the soon-to-be married pair. Court documents reveal Martha stated, “We make cakes for Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.”
Christianity Under Attack?
The ensuing court fight wound its way through the state. Lower courts supported the traditional reading of religious liberty laws, namely that religious liberty laws are there to protect Christianity and Christianity only. Sponsored by the Church of Sodom’s lawyers, Mr. Canard and Mr. Gould appealed to the United States Supreme Court.
The defendants and their conservative Christian allies are up in arms and crying out Christianity is under attack. “Our country was founded on the basis of denying citizens basic rights based on the religious preferences of those in power,” stated one of the lawyers for the bakery. Mr. Canard noted that idea sounds an awful like the justification for slavery, Jim Crow Laws, and opposing interracial marriage.
Republican and Democratic politicians are leaping at the opportunity to win points with their political base as the midterm elections loom near. Depending on the individual running for office, Jesus wishes to give every nonheterosexual couple a present for their wedding or Jesus wants Southern Baptists to rule the land just like they did in Ancient Israel.
*A friend suggested the premise for this Poe. Got an idea for a story you want me to write up? Check out the contact form!
Andrew Hall is the author of Laughing in Disbelief. Besides writing a blog, co-hosting the Naked Diner, he wrote two books, Vampires, Lovers, and Other Strangers and God’s Diary: January 2017
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