“The freedom to live and work consistently with one’s faith
is at the heart of what it means to be an American"
By Bob Unruh
World Net DailyFour members of the Colorado Supreme Court, including one justice who boasts on a state website of being a homosexual-rights advocate through the Denver mayor’s “GLBT Commission,” have refused to intervene in a case that is forcing a Colorado baker to violate his Christian faith.
The ruling from the court on Monday drew a statement from the Alliance Defending Freedom, which has been fighting for the religious rights of Lakewood, Colorado, baker Jack Phillips.
“We asked the Colorado Supreme Court to take this case to ensure that government understands that its duty is to protect the people’s freedom to follow their beliefs personally and professionally, not force them to violate those beliefs as the price of earning a living,” said Senior Counsel Jeremy Tedesco.
“Jack, who has happily served people of all backgrounds for years, simply exercised the long-cherished American freedom to decline to use his artistic talents to promote a message and event with which he disagrees, and that freedom shouldn’t be placed in jeopardy for anyone. We are evaluating all legal options to preserve this freedom for Jack.”
The court on Monday issued a terse statement denying a petition for review.
It said that Chief Justice Nancy Rice and Justice Nathan Coats would have reviewed the case because of the important questions it raises. But four other justices, including Monica Marquiz, who boasts of winning the Colorado GLBT Bar Association’s 2009 Outstanding GLBT Attorney Award, joined with a growing social movement that insists homosexual rights trump the religious rights protected by the Constitution.
For Rice and Coats, the issues that need to be reviewed include whether the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) “requires Phillips to create artistic expression that contravenes his religious beliefs about marriage,” whether “applying CADA to force Phillips to create artistic expression that contravenes his religious beliefs about marriage violates his free speech rights under the United States and Colorado Constitutions” and whether “applying CADA to force Phillips to create artistic expression that violates his religious beliefs about marriage infringes his free exercise rights under the United States and Colorado Constitutions.”
WND has reported numerous cases similar to Phillips’ in which Christians have suffered punishment for adhering to religious principles.
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