How gay marriage supporters distort the meaning of ‘hate’

By: American Decency Staff

Sometimes I think we'd all be better off if we declared a mooratorium on hate. Not on hating itself, but on the use of the concept of "hate" to browbeat and bully our moral, cultural, and political opponents into submission.

Consider a recent example:

Back in 2013, a Christian-owned bakery in Oregon named Sweet Cakes by Melissa declined to provide a wedding cake for a same-sex marriage ceremony. The lesbian couple that had been turned down might have done what ex-blogger and long-time same-sex marriage advocate Andrew Sullivan has suggested: "If you find someone who's genuinely conflicted about doing something for your wedding, let them be. Find someone else."

But no. The lesbian couple complained to the authorities, a judge determined last January that the bakery violated Oregon's anti-discrimination laws, and this past Friday the state's Bureau of Labor and Industries proposed an award of damages to the couple of $135,000 (for "emotional suffering stemming directly from unlawful discrimination") — this despite the fact that the bakery has since gone out of business and its owners (who have five children) are already struggling to pay the bills.

Immediately after the proposed award was announced, supporters of the bakery owners started a crowdfunding campaign through GoFundMe to cover the family's costs. The campaign raised more than $109,000 in its first eight hours — but then it was halted and shut down when foes of the bakery complained to the website, claiming that the fundraising effort violated its terms of service, which prohibit raising money "in defense of formal charges of heinous crimes, including violent, hateful, or sexual acts."

 

The "heinous crime" in this case obviously had nothing to do with violence or sex. So we're left with "hateful." The owners of the bakery didn't yell and scream insults at the lesbian couple. They didn't beat them or threaten them with violence. They merely chose not to sell them a cake for a same-sex wedding ceremony because their religious faith tells them that two women cannot marry. And that, apparently, is an example of hate.

But is it?

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