Source: Washington Examiner

The Supreme Court took the easy way out when it first heard a dispute between Jack Phillips, a baker, and the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Justices sidestepped the fundamental issue, which was whether the state could compel speech from private citizens, and instead impugned the commission’s actions by pointing to the bigoted statements that its members directed at Christians .

Now the commission is back, persecuting Phillips again. Its case proves that the Left will stop at nothing to force everyone, irrespective of moral objections, to celebrate lifestyle choices of which they disapprove.

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Phillips’s first trip to the Supreme Court began when a same-sex couple asked him to bake a cake for their wedding reception. Phillips declined, explaining that, as a Christian who believes marriage exists only between a man and a woman, he does not make cakes for same-sex weddings.

He made clear that he was not discriminating against homosexuals, telling the couple, “I’ll make your birthday cakes, shower cakes — sell you cookies and brownies. I just don’t make cakes for same-sex weddings.”

Instead of finding another Denver baker, the couple tried to force Phillips to bake the cake by filing a discrimination complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission.

The inaptly named commission ruled against Phillips after commissioners showed “a clear and impermissible hostility toward the sincere religious beliefs motivating his objection,” as the Supreme Court put it. The court ruled for Phillips, holding that the commission violated his civil rights because it did not handle his objections in a neutral manner.

Now the commission is at it again. A man who identifies as a woman wants to force Phillips to bake a cake celebrating his “transition.” Phillips is willing to sell the customer premade pink and blue cakes, but he won’t bake a special cake. This is the crux of the new lawsuit. The commission ruled against Phillips again, holding that forcing him to bake a custom cake celebrating a “gender transition” does not violate his right to free speech.

The Left’s persecution of Phillips is not isolated vindictiveness. Activists also sue florists and web designers who won’t celebrate same-sex weddings or gender transitions. This is a deliberate and programmatic effort to put traditional or individual belief beyond the protection of standard civil and human rights. It is part of a culturewide effort to force conformity on a public that does not agree with the corrosive falsehoods being peddled by a vociferous and odious cult of leftist militants.

The facts are always the same. A Christian artist, florist, baker, or web designer who is happy to serve anyone, regardless of sexuality or gender identity, is targeted for attack for what they represent. What they represent is a principled refusal to say what they do not believe, a refusal to create an artifact that celebrates a lifestyle to which Christians object.

Colorado is only a state, not a god. It lacks the power to force anyone to celebrate other people’s choices, which is what the Left and the commissioners are trying to do. Toleration is not enough for them; they demand affirmation.

We believe America is, fortunately, still a free country and that the law is on the side of those who wish to say what they want and do not wish to be forced to say what others demand. What Phillips has shown, and what more people should show, is the courage to stand up for principle and against bullies. We still have a First Amendment, the wider Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and a Supreme Court to enforce them.

The court should finish the job it declined to do last time. Rather than allow Phillips and others to be persecuted by the Colorado commission and others like it, justices should make it clear that in this country, the beliefs of Christians, and of members of other religions, are to be respected, and nobody may be obliged to parrot beliefs they do not hold just because they have become fashionable.

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