Issues@Hand

AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs

Photo above, Jack Phillips

March 2018 – The Oregon Court of Appeals recently upheld a $135,000 penalty imposed on Aaron and Melissa Klein, former owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, for declining to bake and design a cake for a same sex wedding nearly five years ago. The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries ordered the Kleins in 2015 to pay for the lesbian couple’s “emotional damages.”

First Liberty Institute, the legal group representing the Kleins, may take the case to the Oregon Supreme Court.

In late 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a similar case, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. In that case, baker Jack Phillips said he would sell two homosexuals other kinds of cakes, but he could not in good conscience sell them a wedding cake because same sex weddings violate his religious beliefs. The Supreme Court should rule by June 2018.

The case is expected to have far-reaching impact on the future of religious liberty across the U. S.

christianheadlines.com, 12/29/17; onenewsnow.com, 12/28/17;
afa.net/thestand, 12/29/17