It’s too bad that Oregon Christians Aaron and Melissa Klein have not received nearly the publicity that Kim Davis got. If more Americans were aware of this couple’s plight, it would put another twist on that religious freedom debate going on right now. Here’s a couple who declined to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian couple a few years back. Subsequently, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries ordered the Kleins to pay the lesbians $135,000 to make up for their “emotional suffering.”
Well, it seems the Kleins are refusing to pay. That has state officials back in court, asserting their right to place a lien against the Kleins’ property and assets.
“It’s difficult to understand the Kleins’ unwillingness to pay the debt when they have, very publicly, raised nearly a half million dollars,” labor bureau spokesman Charlie Burr said Wednesday. “They are entitled to a full and fair review of the case, but do not have the right to disregard a legally binding order.”
The Kleins have claimed financial hardship, but since there have been public crowdfunding efforts on their behalf, these officials are saying that excuse isn’t going to fly.
So they’re going to go in there and do what? Take this family’s home so these poor lesbians can begin the healing process with a trip to Hawaii? That’s what this couple wants?
Wow, and it’s the Christians who are the hateful ones, remember.
Do these state officials take into account how they’ve basically destroyed this family’s business? And, you know, that part’s fair. It’s disgusting and it’s really quite sick in this case, but it’s fair. If people want to boycott your business for something you said or did, that’s the way the free market works. Plenty of corporations have rued the day they crossed conservatives, though that rarely happens anymore, unfortunately.
But when the state orders you to pay out six figures for adhering to your beliefs…that’s really just as bad as what they did to Davis. And, frankly, it’s for a much lesser form of resistance. Discrimination laws…they just simply don’t apply, even if you buy into the idea that gays should be a protected group. The Kleins – like every other business owner that has been persecuted and prosecuted in this war – did not refuse to serve gay customers. They refused to participate in a gay ceremony.
Now, that would be one thing if it was understood that a business owner has to do anything a customer requests of him. And hey, you have to admit that would be a fun policy for a little while. But it’s ridiculous to pretend like that’s the case. Go into a T-shirt shop and order a dozen shirts with a racist slogan on the front. Will you be accommodated? Probably not. And no one would be the least bit surprised or outraged at the shop. Because of course a business does not have to make you whatever thing you want.
So, what is next? Will stores have to meet “gay product” quotas, to make sure all customers are equally represented? Will barbers be fined for not being proficient in the latest gay hairstyles? How equal is equal enough? And how many good Americans are going to fall victim to this insanity before this country wakes up?
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