I don’t like being the devil’s advocate, and yet I don’t like seeing something a certain way and not telling my story. It is fairly trivial at first yet the repercussions of the situation could reach much further than its seed.
A bakery in Northern Ireland is currently in court over a cake. A customer asked for a bespoke cake adorned with a gay rights slogan. In Northern Ireland, gay marriage is still an issue. The religious British state has a majority which is opposed to same-sex marriages and their laws refuse to acknowledge a union between two people of the same gender.
The requested cake flouted the rules by suggesting that accepting gay marriage is the right path to take. Although most European nations have now acknowledged that homosexual people’s feelings are natural and normal and when two homosexual people commit to each other, they mean it, it’s still a touchy subject in some places. Thanks to a few lines in scripture, which although open to interpretation clearly say that two men laying with each other angered God, many people do their best to please God by emulating His one of many written thoughts. Out of context, time frame, and biblical story, the mindset feels a little awkward for the rest of us.
The devout Christian bakery owners refused to decorate the cake in the requested fashion. Not only did it pose a legal issue in their eyes, it also went against their religious beliefs. The customer then decided to take the matter to court. Rather than going to a different bakery, or just decorating it himself, proving a point was more important.
I am not sure if the customer knew that the cake would be refused or if they knew about the bakery’s strict faith. The bakery was told that it was discriminating against the gay cake man, Mr. Lee. They have responded by saying the request “extinguishes their conscience”. My concience doesn’t have an issue with gay people, although I’d not want to have a gay relationship myself I can empathise with finding someone attractive and can translate it to homosexuality quite easily.
The bakery owners are clearly putting God first over their customers, and then their interpretation of God at that. Many Christian people are happy with gay marriage and some churches openly offer blessings and ceremonies. It does look pretty bad for the bakery, with a touchy subject supported by lots of touchy people. However, I do think it deserves a look from the other side.
Would we expect a Jewish or Muslim food place to cook pork for us? It would go against their religious beliefs. Buddhists being forced to serve meat would be another example or asking a Hindu to bake a cake in the shape of a Crucifix. We’d be hard-pressed to find anyone of those situations that works out in our favour.
If the cake was so vital, could the gay man not have gone to another bakery and had it made? Was the whole point of this exercise to humiliate the bakery for having what could be considered as outdated beliefs? I am not sure that I would willing write something that I considered sinful, even if offered money, and I am not particularly religious. As the bakery owners said, it is a matter of conscience. It’s just a shame we can all agree on things like this.
Rowan Blair Colver