Different standards for 'gay' bakers and Christian bakers

I have been sitting on this story for a few weeks not quite sure what to do with it until today,,,

I'm going to ignore who Theodore Shoebat is (as the apple didn't fall to far from the tree) and focus on his little "experiment."

With the objective of revealing if tolerance, anti-bigotry and compassion are really at the heart of the homosexual agenda when it comes to same-sex "marriage," Shoebat.com made some not-so-startling observations about those who profess to stand for open-mindedness and acceptance.

Testing their true spirit, Theodore Shoebat set out on a quest with his website crew to see how bakers advocating homosexual behavior respond when asked to bake a cake for those who don't reflect their progressive views on homosexuality. But before going into their findings, Shoebat showcased the sheer lack of tolerance that lawsuits and subsequent rulings have demonstrated against those who refuse to support the homosexual agenda due to their sincerely held religious convictions.
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When Shoebat.com set out and contacted 13 popular bakers that publicly support same-sex marriage, requesting them to bake a cake displaying the message, "Gay marriage is wrong," a less-than-tolerant response was invoked.

All of the LGBT-friendly respondents didn't meet their own standards of understanding, tolerance and inclusion. "Each one denied us service, and even used deviant insults and obscenities against us," Shoebat reported.

Remarks such as "Go away" and "We won't serve you" were amongst the more tame responses, which graduated to expletive-laden tirades condemning the potential customers for their "intolerance."

"One baker even said that she would make me a cookie with a large phallus on it just to insult us because we are Christian," Shoebat continued. "We recorded all of this in a video that will stun the American people as to how militant and intolerant the homosexual bakers were."

And the outbursts didn't stop there, as many of the homosexual business owners receiving the potential orders gave Shoebat callbacks condemning the prospective clients for making such "insensitive" requests.

A few observations,,,

He is comparing apples and oranges in more ways than one. Shoebat specifically targeted pro-LGBT businesses, "contacted 13 popular bakers that publicly support same-sex marriage." In the recent round of cases, I am unaware any of the businesses advertising as anti-gay, Christian businesses. Therefore their "religious views" would not have been known prior to the initial contact.

From the outset, Shoebat has an agenda. At issue, he is citing a case from Ireland, where QueerSpace Belfast asked for a cake with the phrase "Support Gay Marriage" to be written. Again I am not aware of any instance where the "Christian" businesses were asked to write a politically charged message on the cakes being discussed. [There is a "deeper" issue here as well, whether an artist or craftsman can be compelled by the government to create objects against his or her wishes versus being denied service. The basis for the recent cases, what are the public accommodations laws in the community in which the bakery does business, and did they violate them?]

His first call doesn't bode well as he called a bakery specializing in cookies, in other words they don't bake cakes.

I am also unaware of any of the recent litigants engaging said "Christian" businesses in political and religious rhetoric after their denial of service as Shoebat does. As one comment noted, "there is a difference between simply baking a cake for a same-sex couple and putting certain messages on the cake. That's where Shoebat's experiment made the huge error. The same sex couples merely wanted a cake. Shoebat was deliberately baiting the gay bakeries."

From the discussion over at Towel Road, these points are pertinent:

How would you act if asked that kind of question? Would you think that your answers were being recorded for propagation on public media and have a fully balanced and rational response?

So is he also mad that most bakeries wouldn't make a cake with the words "Interracial marriage is wrong?"

Overall, the situations are not comparable. The Christian bakeries refused to sell gay couples a product, a wedding cake, that they do provide to straight couples. The LGBT supporting bakeries would not bake a "Gay Marriage Is Wrong" cake for anyone. They aren't targeting Christians for exclusion.

Different standards for 'gay' bakers and Christian bakers