Are all Republicans Idiots?

This is where we will differ on the purpose of our govt and the laws they create. Refusing to bake a wedding cake for a gay wedding does not equal baking a birthday cake for a gay person. Do we know if they would refuse to bake them a cake simply because they were gay? No, we know they didn't want to bake a cake for a specific occasion they didn't agree with. So what do they do? Put them out of business via the laws of the land, break them and put them in poverty because of a single event that didn't even cause harm except for feelings... Did the couple end up getting a cake for their wedding from someone who was gay wedding friendly?

I noticed you ignored the story about the Muslim bakers.

Our state and federal governments have vast powers that are used to serve many beneficial purposes. Our government has authority to regulate commerce and to prohibit discrimination in the public marketplace. Regulation is necessary and proper to secure the liberty interests of all individuals in our large and diverse population of people. I am unaware of the purpose you personally assign to the government.

Christians are not being picked on.

Christians are not suffering under persecution.

Christians do not have targets on their backs.

Are you playing the fallacious victim card when you point to a video?

Are you asking, "Why are those sinful gays picking on the Christians and not the Muslims?" What relevance is the video?

I would disagree, they have a target on their backs by the PC crowd.

You use scary words CI. Insidious... People such as yourself see's such things in everyone who disagrees with you. People such as yourself, Debra and Rex scare me for the future of free speech and free will in this country.

@Baldimo,
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I would disagree, they have a target on their backs by the PC crowd.

We're engaged in speech right now.

Here's a snippet of free speech from the past: "Jim Crow must go!"

And there were opposing voices in the crowd.

“Given the experiences and security concerns that some other schools have had with Ben Shapiro speaking on their campuses, DePaul cannot agree to allow him to speak on our campus at this time,” the university’s vice president of facilities operations reportedly told YAF in an email last week.

“It’s both pathetic and predictable that the University is happy to grant a veto on speakers to snowflake leftists so long as the leftists threaten violence,” Shapiro said. “This is how free speech dies: when people in power cave to the bullies rather than standing up for basic rights.”

“If DePaul cannot trust its delicate liberal snowflake students and administrators to allow Ben to speak his mind safely and freely, it has utterly failed in its mission to ‘[foster] a community that welcomes open discourse.’ Make no mistake, any security concerns we face on campuses are 100 percent incited by the censorious, intolerant Left,” YAF said.

People who think it's a sin for gay people to get married can use their voices or put fingers to their keyboards and broadcast their views in many forums.

And others may disagree. You are engaged in free speech right now and don't see any reason for you to be afraid.

You can't do that, but I don't think you have to be afraid for your future.

We are now, but the PC forces are being held at bay. Have you seen the crap going down on college campus's? Leftist students are allowed to protest and hold other students up when walking around campus, but if a Conservative voice comes on campus to give a speech, the campus admin will prevent the speech from taking place for fear of violence.

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Our state and federal governments have vast powers that are used to serve many beneficial purposes. Our government has authority to regulate commerce and to prohibit discrimination in the public marketplace. Regulation is necessary and proper to secure the liberty interests of all individuals in our large and diverse population of people. I am unaware of the purpose you personally assign to the government.

I think the govt oversteps it's bounds in the realm of "commerce" and has exploited the purpose of the "commerce clause". We no longer live in a "confined" society where these laws make sense. There is no longer just one baker in town in which to seek a business transaction and I disagree that a cake is just a cake. If that were the case they would have been fine with a cake from the grocery store. When you go to a business like a baker, you are not just getting a cake, you are getting artistic expression and that persons art is the reason for getting the cake. Don't think so? Watch a couple of cooking competition shows and tell me art isn't a major part of the reason people do what they do.

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Christians are not being picked on.

I would disagree, they have a target on their backs by the PC crowd.

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Christians are not suffering under persecution.

That depends on how you define persecution. Are they being killed in the streets here like they are in other parts of the world? No they are not. Are people attempting to drive them from public view? Yes. Do you not recall the protests directed at Chic-fil-a? How about the CEO of Firefox? All Christians and targeted for their views.

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Christians do not have targets on their backs.

See the examples above. Bakers, a CEO and an entire company have been under-fire by the PC left. Even RedRex/Cobbler, an out gay man, has stated that every anti-gay person in the US should be outed and fired from their jobs. Ask him, I'm sure he won't deny it.

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Are you playing the fallacious victim card when you point to a video?

I'm not playing a victim of any sort, I don't have any skin in that game. What I'm showing is the limited outrage of the PC left when it comes to different religions. Christian people bad, Muslim people good.

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Are you asking, "Why are those sinful gays picking on the Christians and not the Muslims?" What relevance is the video?

Sinful gays? I don't think gays are sinful so you can stop putting words in my mouth. I'm not even a Christian so I'm not sure about your meaning in relation to the subject.

When you argue that a business shouldn't have to serve gays because there are other businesses that will, you are simply looking around with present day eyes at the fruit borne from the diligent work of progressives over many generations. In other words, anti-discrimination laws have been effective.

If we apply your rationale, however, then a racist inn keeper should be allowed to turn away blacks because there presently exist many other inns along the highway that might not discriminate. If we eliminate or chip away at the protections of anti-discrimination laws, then the evils of segregation will arise again.

If you want to work in a private studio and create works of art for a select clientele, you may do so. But when you open a business in the public square and welcome members of the public to enter and buy your goods, you can't discriminate. It doesn't matter if your frosting flowers are prettier than someone else's frosting flowers, you still can't discriminate.

Christians are not being thrown in the arena to be mauled and eaten by hungry lions. Lashing out at others who frown on discrimination and labeling them the "PC left", etc., doesn't change the fact that you are a beneficiary of all the progress our society has made over many generations through the hard work of progressives.

I'm not labeling you or putting words in your mouth. I wanted to know why you linked to an article that discussed a video about Muslims. What relevance does that video have to our discussion? What are you trying to say? You still haven't answered that question.

I support gay people, does that make me a progressive?

Yes you are progressive in the idea of not being homophobic.

Did you ever think negative of them?

I have 2 mix race children and one of them claims to be bi, he was nervous about telling me, but I didn't care, he is my son.

Debra wrote:

When you argue that a business shouldn't have to serve gays because there are other businesses that will, you are simply looking around with present day eyes at the fruit borne from the diligent work of progressives over many generations. In other words, anti-discrimination laws have been effective.

That is only partially what I said. I also pointed out that they didn't want to make a wedding cake, we don't know if they would make a bday cake for a gay person. To say they didn't make a wedding cake and therefore refused service to a gay person is only part of the story. They refused to make a cake for a gay wedding.

To give all the credit to the "Progressives" is a funny thought. I give the credit to people in general and not the progressive movement. I support gay people, does that make me a progressive?

If we apply your rationale, however, then a racist inn keeper should be allowed to turn away blacks because there presently exist many other inns along the highway that might not discriminate. If we eliminate or chip away at the protections of anti-discrimination laws, then the evils of segregation will arise again.

No, that is your rationale. The evils of segregation will never come back, the popular view has moved too far forward. It is only in the minds of those who want to control the govt that think it would. You like many leftists here at A2K have old thought patterns and never changed. You should try living in modern day society and use modern day thought, not a thought process from over 50 years ago.

If you want to work in a private studio and create works of art for a select clientele, you may do so. But when you open a business in the public square and welcome members of the public to enter and buy your goods, you can't discriminate. It doesn't matter if your frosting flowers are prettier than someone else's frosting flowers, you still can't discriminate.

So now you get to decide who someone can and can't provide a service to? An artist is an artist. Would you object to a baker not wanting to make a cake for a Christian?
http://ijr.com/2015/04/294575-court-sides-bakery-denied-christian-two-bible-shaped-cakes/
It seems some people want to have their cake and eat it as well.

Christians are not being thrown in the arena to be mauled and eaten by hungry lions. Lashing out at others who frown on discrimination and labeling them the "PC left", etc., doesn't change the fact that you are a beneficiary of all the progress our society has made over many generations through the hard work of progressives.

Keep telling yourself that. I don't see anyone but Christian bakers having their busiesses taken from them. I only saw one CEO lose his job because of his personal beliefs and he was a Christian. These are all facts, do you deny them?

If the PC left only did what you claim, that wouldn't be such a bad thing, but they see racism everywhere, they see bigotry everywhere, even when none of it is there. It served it's purpose and has nothing left, why do you think colleges are so big on "safe places" and other such PC nonsense.

I'm not labeling you or putting words in your mouth. I wanted to know why you linked to an article that discussed a video about Muslims. What relevance does that video have to our discussion? What are you trying to say? You still haven't answered that question.

Did you watch the video? I'm guessing you didn't or you would know that this guy went around to Muslim bakers and asked them to make him a cake for his gay wedding. Many of them refused but you won't find gay people going to harass a Muslim baker and force them to do something that is against their faith. Nope. It's the double standard of PCness, it only works against Christians. To the PC left, Muslims are a protected class and aren't held to the same standards as they hold Christians.