Leaders of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma (BGCO) commended the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. The Court ruled 7-2 today, June 4, in favor of baker Jack Phillips’ right of free exercise of religion.
“The Supreme Court has rightly recognized the Constitutional and longstanding right to religious liberty, instead of giving into new-fangled notions of ‘sexual liberty,’ said Brian Hobbs, BGCO communications director. “This is a great day for freedom and for religious liberty.”
In the opinion for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy found that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission infringed on Phillips’s religious right to refuse to make a cake for a same-sex wedding.
Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, also responded to the ruling, stating it is “a win for all Americans.”
“The Supreme Court got this one right,” Moore said. “I have long been concerned by the erosion of religious liberty and the characterizing of some of the most basic religious convictions of millions of Americans as hateful or bigoted. So I was very glad to see the strong rebuke of hostility toward religious people’s viewpoints. But this is a win not just for those of us who agree with Jack Phillips. This is a win for all Americans. At stake at this debate was the question of whether or not the state can force an individual to violate their conscience. We need to live in the kind of country where we can be free to persuade one another, not bully each other into silence. The Supreme Court’s responsibility is to protect Americans from governments and agencies that would make such and demand. I’m glad to see they have. My hope is that this will be a sign that the Court will continue to uphold conscience freedom and personal liberty in future cases.”
