People of good faith nationwide should want the Oregon Supreme Court to take the appeal of Aaron and Melissa Klein, if only to be reminded that it is possible to live peacefully as neighbors even when we disagree.
Aaron and Melissa are the bakers near Portland whose religious beliefs prevented them from custom-designing a wedding cake to express a message celebrating same-sex marriage. The Kleins came from modest backgrounds, got married early in life, and were raising their children. After years of hard work, they managed to get a little piece of the American Dream by opening their own small business, a bakery named Sweet Cakes by Melissa.
Aaron and Melissa are mainstream American Christians. As such, they sincerely believe the Bible is the word of God, that they are to live according to their personal understanding of what the Bible teaches, and strive to live out their faith in everything they say and do — including how they ran their little bakery.
They hoped and prayed that their small family business would become something they could pass on to their children. Melissa hoped to train her daughter in the craft while Aaron taught the family how to run a business.
One day in 2013, a woman asked them to customize-design a cake to celebrate her same-sex relationship. To Aaron and Melissa, she was a repeat customer; the Kleins had previously designed a wedding cake for one of her family members.
But Aaron and Melissa customize messages only when consistent with their personal faith. They consistently declined to customize messages for “divorce parties,” bachelor parties, and even Halloween, which they know many Christians celebrate with a clear conscience, because they held those messages to be inconsistent with their sincere religious beliefs.
This is when Aaron and Melissa’s American Dream turned into a nightmare.
Because they could not express a message affirming same-sex marriage without violating their religious convictions, the Oregon government penalized Aaron and Melissa $135,000, their bakery was shuttered, and they have been plunged into more than five years of litigation.
The Oregon government publicly pronounced them guilty of discrimination in a manner that invited public scorn, which motivated private citizens to supply.
“I hope your shop burns,” one woman said on Facebook. Another said Aaron and Melissa “will burn in Hell.” Yet another person calls them a “stupid piece of s—-” while mocking their faith.
“F—- both of you, you homophobic trash,” said one man. “I hope you lose your house and have to live on the streets and that gay people point and laugh at you.”
One woman even said, “We hope your children get cancer and die … You are worthless.”
When the government declares that citizens like Aaron and Melissa are not entitled to the Constitution’s promises of religious liberty and free speech, its people push aside any goodwill that allows everyone to coexist peacefully with beliefs with which they may disagree.
A similar scene unfolded with Jack Phillips in Colorado, whose case is now before the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice Anthony Kennedy reacted during oral arguments, “It seems to me that the state in its position here has been neither tolerant nor respectful of Mr. Phillips’ religious beliefs.”
It doesn’t have to be this way. As Justice Kennedy also said, “[T]olerance is essential in a free society.”
Regardless of how the U.S. Supreme Court decides Phillips’ case, the Oregon Supreme Court should hear Aaron and Melissa’s case, which my law firm filed with the court on March 1. At stake are constitutional rights of free speech, free exercise of religion, and due process rights to a fair hearing.
To encourage all Americans to be tolerant and respectful of all people’s peaceful religious beliefs, Oregon’s leaders must show the way by being tolerant and respectful of Aaron and Melissa’s.
Ken Klukowski is senior counsel for First Liberty Institute, a non-profit law firm dedicated to defending religious freedom for all Americans. Read more at FirstLiberty.org.
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