Thursday, August 17, 2017

Four Reasons for Cake Bakers

There are for ways of looking at the motivations of fundamentalist Christian cake bakers who wish to avoid providing services for gay weddings.
One reason is that they think that society allowing gay weddings will bring on divine vengeance.  Frankly, there are a lot of things, like atomic weapons and capitalism that are more likely to do_that, but the reality is that Jesus said that God does not punish people with natural disasters, which he made clear in Luke 13:1-5 regarding the Tower of Siloam. If that is your logic, bake the cake. The world will not explode.
A second reason is that people may just hate homosexuals, regardless of any biblical teaching.  They are not only abnormal but they vote for Democrats.  Those who admit that have at least been honest, however that kind of hate is covered under the Civil Rights Act.  Bake the cake or face all sorts of legal penalties, although you can probably avoid providing the gay cake topper with two brides or two grooms.  Politely let the couple know that they must order their own cake topper, you don’t carry them in stock.  Being impolite is a sin.
A third reason is that the bakers actually care for the souls of the gay couple and refuse to bake the cake out of fraternal correction.  In Christianity, as the kids now say, we have an app for that.  It is the 18th Chapter of Matthew.  First you quietly admonish them, then add two or three witnesses and then refer to matter to the whole Church (who in my view should be performing the wedding).  When Jesus mentioned the Church, he meant the whole assembly, not just pastor (or overseer or bishop, there were no parish priests or diocese, just communities).  If the person ignores even these, they are to be treated as you treat the heathen and the publican.  Of course, Jesus was known for dining with heathens and publicans, so bake the cake.
The fourth possibility is the most true.  The gay couple in question, unless they have always lived lives of continence, have repented from the kind of promiscuity that is assumed to go with the gay lifestyle (and who would not live it up if they believed that the orientation they were born with damned them to Hell, allowing no sex for the morally disordered).  Leaving behind the wild life for the joys of monogamy, possibly dealing with one or both partner’s children in a parental role (or nieces and nephews in the same way) is considered conversion, as when the lost sheep is found or the prodigal son returns.  In that case, you must surely not only bake the cake, but also order the cake topper as well and encourage the Church to hold the wedding.  If the angels are celebrating, how dare you not share in their joy?
Clergy should take the same test.  Those that can’t see the appropriateness of the fourth possibility should pray about whether the religious or episcopal life is right for them and if not, call Rome as soon as possible to make arrangements to do something else.

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