CO Goes After Baker Jack Phillips Once Again

Religious Freedom, ,

In June, Colorado baker Jack Phillips of the Masterpiece Cakeshop won a landmark victory when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that Jack could not be forced to violate his deeply held religious convictions.

In 2012 Jack Phillips declined a request to bake a custom cake for a same-sex ceremony. Colorado’s Civil Rights Commission targeted Masterpiece Cakeshop under the state’s anti-discrimination law. After six years of litigation and court hearings, Jack finally won his case this summer.

In its ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court chastised Colorado’s Civil Rights Commission for its obvious hostility toward Jack Phillips.

The story should have ended with a Supreme Court victory for Masterpiece Cakeshop. Instead, the Civil Rights Commission is after Jack Phillips again — this time for declining to bake a cake for a gender-transition celebration.

Our friends at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview write,

About a year ago, a caller to Jack’s store asked Jack to bake a cake celebrating a gender transition. To be blunt, it was an obvious set-up.

For starters, the request came in hours after it was reported that the Supreme Court would hear Jack’s case. Jack’s wife, who answered the phone, was asked for a cake with blue on the outside and pink on the inside, to represent the caller’s transition from male to female. When Mrs. Phillips politely told the caller that her husband didn’t make custom cakes for that kind of event, she was asked to repeat herself so that someone else could hear.

The “charging party” called again and this time an employee answered the phone and politely explained the shop’s policy. After berating her about the policy, the “charging party” hung up.

At no time did anyone in the Phillips family ask the caller about any personal characteristics, such as sex or gender identity. The only thing they knew about the caller was the request itself.

But that didn’t matter. About a month later Phillips received a copy of a complaint charging him with discriminating on the basis of gender identity.

Attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom are once again standing beside Jack Phillips, writing,

Enough is enough. Alliance Defending Freedom is “going on offense” and suing the state of Colorado on Jack’s behalf for its blatant targeting of him.

You would think that a clear Supreme Court decision against their first effort would give them pause. But it seems like some in the state government are hell-bent on punishing Jack for living according to his faith.

If that isn’t hostility, what is?

Photo Credit: Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/Newscom

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Schools Cannot Prevent Student Prayer: State Commissioner of Education’s Memo

Religious Freedom,

Arkansas Department of Education Commissioner Johnny Key’s yearly memo reminds schools that they cannot stop students from praying.

This week Arkansas Department of Education Commissioner Johnny Key issued an annual memo to public school superintendents statewide reminding them that schools that receive federal funds cannot stop students from engaging in “constitutionally protected prayer in public schools.”

Public schools must file paperwork verifying that the school has no policy in place that would prevent students from praying at school.

While courts have ruled that teachers cannot lead students in prayer in the classroom, the Constitution and federal law generally protect students’ rights to pray, read scripture, and form religious groups or clubs on campus, provided that they do not disrupt school activities. Students also are free to talk about religion or their religious beliefs as part of a relevant class assignment or with their friends during lunch or other free times at school.

That is why Family Council supports activities like Bring Your Bible to School Day, and it’s why we have said students are free to talk about Jesus or their church if a teacher asks them to write a paper about what’s important to them.

Commissioner Key’s memo is a good reminder that students do not check their religious liberties at the door when they walk into a schoolhouse.

Read Commissioner Key’s Memo Here.

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