‘The cruelty is the point’: The intolerant Left makes an example out of Jack Phillips

Despite his Supreme Court victory last year and decades of precedent upholding religious freedom, the Left is bent on destroying the livelihood, or what’s left of it, of this one man.

After the Supreme Court ruled against the Colorado Civil Rights Commission’s “anti-religious bias,” the commission doubled down and brought another anti-discrimination complaint against Phillips because he refused to make Scardina a cake. Phillips, in turn, sued the state and won again when the state agreed to drop its case against Phillips’ family-run bakery.

Scardina, however, decided to pursue separate litigation against Phillips and Masterpiece Cakeshop.

“The dignity of all citizens in our state needs to be honored. Masterpiece Cakeshop said before the Supreme Court they would serve any baked good to members of the LGBTQ community. It was just the religious significance of it being a wedding cake,” Paula Griesen, one of the attorneys representing Scardina, told a local CBS station. “We don’t believe they’ve been honest with the public.”

But Scardina’s lawsuit has nothing to do with discrimination and everything to do with cultural bigotry. She won’t win in the legal arena, thanks to the Supreme Court. Granted, the Court’s opinion in Masterpiece Cakeshop vs. Colorado Civil Rights Commission wasn’t as far-reaching as some conservatives had hoped. But it’s not that narrow: The court condemned anti-religious sentiments in strong terms, calling the state’s actions “insincere” and “inappropriate.”

So what then does Scardina hope to gain? Why go after a man who has already won? It’s simple: The rabid parts of the cultural Left want to make an example out of Jack Phillips.

Today’s woke culture demands not just tolerance but affirmation. The only crime Phillips committed was refusing to celebrate an event his religious convictions condemn. The Left’s retribution was swift and long-lasting.

The cultural Left won’t give up. Scardina’s lawsuit is proof of that. Again, why? Perhaps their persistence stems from something more than just the desire for validation and the need for a cultural scapegoat.

To borrow a phrase from The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer, perhaps the cruelty is the point.

In an essay last year, Serwer argued that in the Trump era, those caught up in the president’s demeaning rhetoric have found a sort of solidarity by attaching themselves to the president’s agenda and behavior. Trump’s sycophants have built a “community” by “rejoicing in the anguish of those they see as unlike them,” he wrote.

It’s important to distinguish the typical Trump supporter from his most vitriolic online minions. Still, Serwer’s point resonated with those who have found themselves in the crosshairs of MAGA’s online mob.

But cruelty isn’t exclusive to one political party: The Left’s repeated targeting of Jack Phillips is proof of that. Cruelty is a deeply human tendency and an unchanging fault that allows man to justify the use of brute force — whether physical, emotional, or in this case, legal — to punish another human being, to teach him a lesson.

The cultural Left’s end isn’t just the destruction of Jack Phillips, it’s the dissolution of the religious principles he clings to, and it will use any means necessary to see that through.

But somewhere along the way, the cruelty became more than just a tool, it became the point. The Left continues to target Phillips because they enjoy it. They get pleasure from forcing the bigot to submit.

As Serwer wrote, “It makes them feel good, it makes them feel proud, it makes them feel happy, it makes them feel united.”

History provides several examples of unity based on the destruction of those with whom you disagree. Some of the results have been much worse than this. But the continued demonization of one man and his cake shop is proof that no matter how many hundreds of years go by, no matter what we stand to lose, humanity has much to learn if true tolerance and decency are to prevail.