Last week, an Oregon couple who, two years ago, refused to design a cake for a homosexual wedding, were found guilty of violating the state’s 2007 anti-discrimination statute.

According to the Daily Signal, “The bakery owners, Aaron and Melissa Klein of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, contend they were adhering to their Christian beliefs that marriage is between a man and a woman.”

The bureau of labor and Industries disagrees and on Monday announced that the couple must pay the lesbian couple who filed the complaint $150,000 for violation of the Oregon Equality Act.

You can read more about the story here.  And here.

Between you and me, I have never quite understood the thinking of people who insult waiters, or force other people to prepare their food.  I am always reminded of that scene in the movie Roots, when Leslie Uggums gives Sandy Duncan a cup of water with a little something extra added.  Nope!  Lest I cut into a cake with a few special ingredients, I would much prefer to have a baker prepare my cake who wants to prepare my cake.

Alas, there are always some who will ingest whatever is necessary in order to enslave their neighbors.

Yes. Enslave. Contrary to the Klein’s argument, this is not an issue of religious freedom, but of the natural right to private property.  This is about the immorality of the state interfering in what should be the voluntary and free exchange of goods and services between two private citizens.

Make no mistake, each of us has the natural right to love whomever we choose. Each of us has a natural right to share our bodies with whomever we choose and in whatever manner we find pleasurable.  We do NOT have a right to another man’s labor; that is called slavery. Those with religious convictions are not the only ones with private property rights and slavery does not suddenly become a moral right when inflicted upon those whose attitudes we find distasteful.

Sweet Cakes by Melissa has gone out of business and will likely declare bankruptcy.  Once the lesbian and gay activists stop cheering, they will realize that their victory was a pyric one indeed. In their zeal to enslave their neighbor, they have enslaved themselves.  Truthfully, any government that can demand that baker’s sell you cake can also demand that you purchase cake from bakers – even the bakers that the state chooses.  Oh, wait.  That sounds vaguely familiar.

But what about discrimination.  Each of us engages in various forms of discrimination throughout the course of our everyday lives.  In fact, the lesbian plaintiffs in this case were as guilty of discrimination as the Klein’s.  They chose Sweet Cakes over ALL of the other bakeries in town. Why should cake buyers be able to discriminate against cake makers, but cake makers are fined and put out of business if they discriminate against cake buyers? What is the principled difference?

For two years, my wife and I owned and operated our own small restaurant.  I am also a Christian, but I believed that my business was chicken wings.  What my customers did in the privacy of their own homes was their business. I served everyone who had money, (and some who didn’t).  No doubt, there are plenty of business people who feel the same way.

Allow me to offer an alternative to charging downtown to the office of your local regulator and enlisting the strong-arm of government to force someone to bake your cake. GO TO ANOTHER BAKERY!

Find a bakery that isn’t interested in what you do and who you do it with. Let your friends know that Sweet Cakes by Melissa is owned by bigots, then tell them about the new bakery you have found.  As word gets out, those of us (and I do mean US.  I would not patronize the Klein’s bakery) who abhor bigotry would avoid Sweet Cakes and give our business to other bakers.  Sweet Cakes would either get with the program or be satisfied with the slow growth of their business.

THAT is how a free market operates.  THAT is how a truly free society works.  THAT is the choice made by those who are jealous of their liberty!