The 3 - June 10, 2018

In this week's edition of The 3, there are three stories related to religious liberty.  One is out of Arizona, where a state appeals court has ruled against Phoenix artists who had challenged a local ordinance that would have forced them to create art that contradicts their religious beliefs.  You also have the case of a corporate spokesperson who lost his job just because he stated his Biblically-consistent views on homosexuality.  And, the big news out the U.S. Supreme Court Monday was that a Colorado baker received a favorable ruling in a case that had resulted from his declining to bake a cake celebrating a same-sex relationship.

3 - Arizona appeals court rules against artists who challenged Phoenix ordinance forcing artistic expression that violates their beliefs

A Phoenix art studio had filed a challenge to a local ordinance that, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom website, would have forced artists to create expression that runs contrary to their deeply held beliefs.  The studio is called Brush and Nib, and its lawsuit, filed in 2016, "challenges Phoenix City Code Section 18.4(B), a non-discrimination ordinance which the city has construed to force artists like the owners of Brush & Nib to create objectionable art, even though they decide what art to create based on the art’s message, not the requester’s personal characteristics."  This is called a "pre-enforcement challenge."

The ADF website stated that the ordinance, "forces the studio’s two young female owners to use their artistic talents to promote same-sex ceremonies. The ordinance also forbids the studio...and its proprietors from publicly expressing their Christian belief that marriage is the union of one man and one woman or explaining why they hold to that time-honored view."

This past week, the Arizona Appeals Court, after a lower court judge had refused to suspend the ordinance, ruled against the artists' challenge.  According to an article on the ADF website, Senior Counsel Jonathan Scruggs, director of the ADF Center for Conscience Initiatives, said:

“Artists shouldn’t be forced under threat of fines and jail time to create artwork contrary to their core convictions. The court’s decision allows the government to compel two artists who happily serve everyone to convey a message about marriage they disagree with. This contradicts basic freedoms our nation has always cherished. In Monday’s Masterpiece Cakeshop decision, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that ‘religious and philosophical objections to gay marriage are protected views and in some instances protected forms of expression.’ Phoenix’s position contradicts this principle and violates our clients’ artistic and religious freedom. We intend to appeal the court’s decision.”

2 - Corporate spokesperson terminated due to expression of Biblical views on homosexuality

During the same week in which a baker's viewpoint was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, a spokesman for a large company who expressed his views on homosexuality was fired. Faithwire
reported on the termination of Russell Berger, corporate spokesperson for CrossFit.

Berger's comments came in response to a situation originating at a local CrossFit affiliate in Indianapolis.  The story says that several weeks ago...

...CrossFit Infiltrate’s manager and staff created a Pride workout event and proceeded to publicize it on the gym’s social media channels. Though the workout was scheduled for Thursday 7 June, it was abruptly canceled June 1 by Infiltrate’s owner Brandon Lowe. A statement regarding the reasons for the cancellation was emailed to gym members by manager Johnnie Martin.

The statement included these words: "Total health involves the body, the emotions, relationships, and the spirit. At the foundational detractor from health, as we believe God sets the parameters for, is pride."  Of course, this resulted in a backlash from the LGBT+ community. 

And, Berger, a then-researcher for the company, tweeted out his support for the actions of Infiltrate. The Faithwire report said:

In a series of now-deleted tweets, Berger declared that the “tactics of some in the LGBTQ movement toward dissent” is a clear and “existential threat to freedom of expression.”

Clearly, that didn’t go down well with his employer. Berger, whose Twitter bio lists him as CrossFit’s “Chief Knowledge Officer,” was summarily suspended for his comments pending further investigation. Speaking to Buzzfeed, Crossfit CEO Greg Glassman harangued Berger for his remarks, even labeling him a “zealot.”

Then, it was announced that Berger had been terminated.  Berger took to social media with more statements, according to the story:

“That my personal opinions don’t reflect the entirety of the CrossFit community is painfully obvious. Let’s not pretend this isn’t just an attempt to silence my personal views by pressuring my employer.”

Berger further clarified his position on homosexuality: “I believe that all humans, regardless of their sins, (and we are all sinners), are image bearers of God and worthy of dignity, respect, and value,” he tweeted. “That also means we should care enough about them to tell them the truth about sin.”

1 - Colorado cake baker who declined to provide cake for same-sex ceremony receives favorable ruling from U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court announced it ruling in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case on Monday, and owner Jack Phillips, who declined to provide a cake for a ceremony celebrating a same-sex union, received a favorable ruling from the high court - a 7-2 ruling.  But, while this is a moment of celebration for Jack, based on experts' opinions, it is unclear how this could affect similar cases that have occurred in the past and may transpire in the future.

Family Research Council reported on the decision, saying that, according to the justices...

...Colorado's treatment of Masterpiece Cakes was "inconsistent with the state's obligation of religious neutrality." "The government, consistent with the Constitution's guarantee of free exercise, cannot impose regulations that are hostile to the religious beliefs of affected citizens and cannot act in a manner that passes judgment upon or presupposes the illegitimacy of religious beliefs and practices," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote on behalf of the court." The Colorado Civil Rights Commission, in its obvious contempt for Jack's beliefs, "was neither tolerant nor respectful of his religious beliefs." The judgment, they concluded, "is reversed."

Regarding the incompleteness of the ruling, FRC states:

The time is coming -- and soon -- when the court will have to wade into the bigger clash between religious liberty and same-sex marriage. When it does, let's hope it agrees with the majority of Americans, who understand that -- regardless of what you think about marriage -- no one should be forced to violate revealed and established biblical truth. "Now that the decision has arrived, I can see the sun once again," Jack wrote in an emotional response today. How much longer until dozens of other Christians can see theirs?