The U.S. Supreme Court handed religious liberty advocates a major victory in June when the 7-2 ruling sided with a Christian baker who refused to design a wedding cake celebrating a same-sex marriage.
The Civil Rights group that brought the case to court was told it demonstrated hostility towards religion when it ordered Jack Phillips to design wedding cakes for same-sex couples.
‘The Civil Rights Commission’s treatment of his case has some elements of a clear and impermissible hostility toward the sincere religious beliefs that motivated his objection,’ said the judge. ‘The Commission’s hostility was inconsistent with the First Amendment’s guarantee that our laws be applied in a manner that is neutral toward religion. Jack serves all customers; he simply declines to express messages or celebrate events that violate his deeply-held beliefs,’ said Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Kristen Waggoner, who defended Phillips before the Supreme Court. ‘Tolerance and respect for good-faith differences of opinion are essential in a society like ours.’