In light of current events, I would like State Oregon to rehabilitate Jewish delicatessens, by keeping kosher, refusing to carry pork products, Muslim own restaurants who keep Halal who refuse not only carry pork producers also refuse to sell alcohol and Hindu Indians refusing to sell beef curry.
There method to my madness, all three are examples of a business that do not carry product or sell a service on the basis of their religions belies. America has a long tradition of respecting religious business stazi of Oregon have no problem with a business Kosher and Halal but go ape over one backer who has served the couple in the past but will not do a gay wedding cake.
Christian have a right to determine what product or service the store will carry according to their religious convictions. I am bothered how opponents had twisted the argument of choice to carry a product or service as discrimination, and how our sides woefully defended form such attacks. I can prove this is not discrimination. Send me a, devoted Christian, and a gay couple to buy a cake I request a wedding cake for a gay couple ask for a birthday cake it the baker denies me and accept the gay couple, the is a case of discernment not discrimination.
The question of course could a Christian bake a gay civil unions* cake? The answer is a technically yes but leave room co conscience In 1 Corinthians 5 the Corinthian church was face with a scandal of a man in a n relationship with his mother, a relationship even pagan Romans find scandalous. Worst the church was condoning the man’s action. 1 Corinthians 5: 1-5. Now Paul calls for the church to exercise church discipline that the man will repent of his sin and receive forgiveness in Christ.
Now we get to 1 Corinthians 5: 9-13
“9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church[b] whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
The idea is in an early letter Paul who to the Corinthian Church admonishing them not to associate with sexual immoral people; he offers some calcification. He does not mean all immoral people in the world but if a person comes in the authority as a Brother or Sister in Christ and advocates and practice such immorality and is unrepentant then we have a duty in or church not to have any doings with that person. In a practical sense as we serve others in our vocation we can serve a gay person but as pointed out in article at Do Not be supposed Blog we should not have anything to do with those who call themselves a Christian but advocate is sin of same sex ,marriage or Homosexuality. Still I have to remember we need to respect the right of conscience of the believer no to carry a product against one wishes
Do not Be surprised blog have the last word because I cannot add to her advice:
“Ultimately, the informed Christian surely is aware that even here in America his religious freedom is waning. There are two ways to respond to this. One can either spend his time decrying and complaining about the unfairness of it all, thereby keeping his eyes firmly fixed upon this world and how he can work to remain comfortable here, or one can keep his eyes fixed firmly upon Christ, His Word and His gospel. The latter allows the Christian to pursue righteousness as Jesus commands (Matthew 6:33), whether or not the world or the government thinks that he should. The latter will keep the Christian’s eyes looking heavenward, longing for that world which is his true home (Phil 3:20). The latter may find the Christian’s freedoms disappearing, it may mean persecution and discomfort (2 Tim 3:12; John 15:18–19), but it will inevitably keep him adamant about proclaiming the salvation that is found in Jesus Christ alone. And that, dear Christian, is precisely what you are called to do (Luke 24:47).”
