‘No American should be forced to speak in violation of their deeply held beliefs’

The Supreme Court ruled on Friday, 6-3, that the state of Colorado, under the First Amendment, cannot force a web designer to promote same-sex weddings in violation of her Christian beliefs.

The case involved Lorie Smith, owner of 3030 Creative, who wanted to promote weddings with her web designs, but was threatened by the state of Colorado which ordered her to adopt the LGBT ideology and promote same-sex weddings if she promoted any.

“Religion and work are not at odds,” said Eric Rassbach, of Becket, which filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the case.

“Yesterday, the court protected religious workers in secular workplaces, and today the court protected religious business owners. That is good news for religious Americans of all stripes.””

Becket explained, “The ruling corrects a lower court decision that failed to respect speech with ‘political and religious significance.’ Four times, the court recognized the distinct ‘significance’ of such speech.”

“Colorado seems to be a reluctant student when it comes to the First Amendment,” Rassbach explained. “How many cases will Colorado have to lose before it stops trying to squelch speech? The court’s ruling today emphasizes just how quixotic it is to force conformity of thought on Americans.”

Colorado, in fact, has a reputation for attacking and threatening Christians and their beliefs, and lost several years ago at the Supreme Court when the justices – with a left-leaning majority at the time – condemned its “hostility” to Christianity.

Meridian Baldacci, of the Family Policy Alliance, noted, “Today’s win at the court is an affirmation of what we’ve always known: that no American should be forced to speak or create in violation of their deeply held beliefs. This decision is a bold repudiation against the Left’s agenda that wants to force Americans to affirm and even celebrate the tenets of LGBT ideology – and other radical beliefs – or face castigation.”

According to the Thomas More Society, the case resembled its defense of Cathy Miller, proprietor of Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield, California, who was accused by that state of similar offenses – declining to violate her faith by promoting same-sex weddings.

She was hauled into court twice by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, and her freedom to exercise her sincere religious beliefs eventually was affirmed by a California Superior Court ruling.

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