Unreal!

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone,
“it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”
—Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass¹—

The “little man,” the private citizen, can at any time stand up and,
on the basis of biblical teaching, say that the majority is wrong.
—Francis Schaeffer²—

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
—Isaiah 5:20—

We live in an upside-down world. Consider, for example, how the meanings of certain words and phrases have changed over the years.

A cell once was the place to which a convicted criminal was confined—or the term cell referred to a microorganism. Now when we hear the word cell, we almost certainly are hearing someone speak of a mobile phone.³
Bad once referred to something that didn’t meet an established standard of excellence or to behavior that was clearly wrong or inappropriate. Today it is a slang word that means something is really great. Moreover, the term “breaking bad,” means to counter conventional wisdom or to challenge authority.⁴
Gay used to mean happy or joyful. Now in common speech, it refers to a homosexual identity.⁵^,⁶
When you hear the phrase social justice, beware! Quite probably, people aren’t talking about treating others fairly or impartially or about avoiding favoritism. Most of the time this is a code word progressives use to highlight various inequalities they see among various individuals and groups. Emphasizing these, they seek to make the case for government redistribution of wealth.^7,⁸ Social justice in this sense is not just at all!
Equality is a foundational American virtue, for our Declaration of Independence declares, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”⁹ The equal opportunity affirmed in our founding document has made America one of the freest and wealthiest nations on earth. However, today equality has come to mean, not equal opportunity, but equal Forcing equal outcomes, however, eliminates equal opportunity (and thus freedom) and stifles productivity.
When he first used the phrase a wall of separation between church and state in an 1802 letter to the Baptist Association of Danbury, Connecticut, Thomas Jefferson was referring to a limitation placed on the federal government so the government would not interfere with or hinder the work of the church, and so government would not give an unfair advantage to one Christian denomination over another. Today Jefferson’s words have been misused to promote the erroneous idea that the U.S. Constitution disavows and disallows any element of Christianity in public life, a concept that is incompatible with his original meaning.¹⁰ The phrase separation of church and state does not appear in the Constitution.¹¹

With nearly all these terms, these changes in meaning did not occur by chance. They reflect a shift in the general perspective of the American people—the assumptions they make about the world and about life. These assumptions often are called a worldview. As the consensus perspective in America has become more secular and crowded God out, the beliefs Americans espouse about right and wrong, about what’s desirable, and about truth itself have drifted far away from the tenets generally held at America’s founding and even as recently as fifty years ago.

While each of the above items demonstrates significant change, perhaps no example better shows how far we’ve come (or how low we’ve descended) in recent decades than the shift in the meaning of the word tolerance. Tolerance used to mean recognizing the right of others to believe as they wish and respecting their right to act on those beliefs, even when (and even though) we may think they are wrong. Today, in stark contrast, the modern view tolerance means esteeming all beliefs, value systems, and lifestyles as equal because (so the underlying assumption goes) no one has a corner on truth.¹² Significantly, this modern view of tolerance leaves no room for anyone to dissent or to think that anyone else’s beliefs or choices are wrong, even if the one thought to hold erroneous views is respected. Thus, some of the loudest advocates of tolerance today are some of the most intolerant people around!

We do not have to look far to find examples of this. In fact, the scenario that has unfolded in the lives of Aaron and Melissa Klein presents a crystal clear picture of the fruit of the new tolerance. It also serves as a warning to America of what will happen nationwide if the new tolerance isn’t challenged. Despite extreme financial hardship, harassment, and pressure from both the media and government, the Kleins are challenging it.

Aaron and Melissa Klein are the proud parents of five children ages two to sixteen.¹³ They used to own a successful business in Gresham, Oregon called Sweet Cakes by Melissa. Melissa is more than a baker. She is a cake artist. “‘When I do a cake, the only way I can describe it to people is it’s my canvas,’ she said. ‘I get to create something on this cake and I get to pour myself out onto this cake.’”¹⁴ For each wedding cake she made, Melissa would spend time with the couple getting to know them, learning about their wedding plans, and even talking with them about the their honeymoon. Melissa explains, “I would use all this information to help me design the perfect cake that reflected them as a couple.…If they chose me to do their cake I would just feel so honored to be able to be a part of such an amazing, special day.”¹⁵ Obviously, she loved her work and was deeply committed to it, but she and her husband are committed to something else even more.

One January day in 2013, Melissa was at home with the couple’s six-month old twin sons while Aaron ran the shop. A woman named Rachel Cryer came in with her mother and inquired about a wedding cake. When they told Aaron that this wedding didn’t involve a groom but a second bride, he politely apologized, saying, “I’m sorry, we don’t do cakes for same-sex weddings.” In one way, this wasn’t easy. Aaron had no idea he was acting in violation of any statute or law, but he found no joy in turning down a customer. At the same time, his decision was clear. As Christians, Aaron and Melissa both believe that marriage is a sacred covenant between one man and one woman. They had to act on that conviction.¹⁶

Soon, one shoe after another began to drop. Rachel and her partner, Laurel Bowman, filed a complaint against Aaron and Melissa for discriminating against them. The vendors for the Kleins’ business were contacted and hounded. Wanting to avoid being run out of business, they dropped Sweet Cakes by Melissa from their lists of recommended businesses, and they requested that Aaron and Melissa remove them from theirs. Because business from those vendors represented over two-thirds of the family’s annual income, the Kleins’ earnings fell sharply. Harassment and the loss in revenue forced the Kleins to close their business on September 1, 2013, although Melissa has done some baking at home. Aaron took a job as a garbage collector to keep the family in the black, but even with this work, the family has had to make do with about half of what previously came in.¹⁷

In early 2014, Todd Starnes of Fox News reported regarding the legal proceedings that resulted from complaint filed against the Kleins. He wrote, “The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries [BOLI] said they found ‘substantial evidence’ that Sweet Cakes by Melissa discriminated against the lesbian couple and violated the Oregon Equality Act of 2007, a law that protects the rights of the LGBT community.”¹⁸

According to Oregon law, at this point that the dispute moved into a period where the goal was reconciliation. A failure of the two parties to resolve the conflict would mean formal charges could be brought against the Kleins. The couple would have to face the possibility of fines exceeding $100,000.¹⁹

According to Brad Avakian, Oregon’s Labor Commissioner, rehabilitation was the goal. In an interview published in the Portland newspaper The Oregonian, Avakian said people can believe whatever they like—but that doesn’t give anyone a right to discriminate. “The goal is never to shut down a business. The goal is to rehabilitate.”²⁰

In many instances, the word reconciliation is a neutral word that indicates both parties meet in the middle and work out a compromise. The Kleins’ experience, however, illustrates vividly that in the conflict between homosexual rights and religious liberty, no middle ground exists. Brad Avakian’s use of the word rehabilitate demonstrates the very same thing. Starnes reported,

Aaron Klein told me there will be no reconciliation and there will be no rehabilitation. He and his wife will not back down from their Christian beliefs.

“There’s nothing wrong with what we believe,” he said. “It’s a biblical point of view. It’s my faith. It’s my religion.”

Klein said he’s not surprised by the ruling and called it “absolutely absurd.”

“I’ve never seen a government entity use a law to come after somebody because they have a religious view,” he said. “I truly believe Brad Avakian is trying to send a message. I don’t think the constitution of the state of Oregon means anything to these people.”²¹

In September of 2014, Aaron and Melissa appeared in Washington, D.C. at the Values Voter Summit sponsored by the Family Research Council. In sharing their story, Aaron affirmed that he and Melissa had gladly served customers who were homosexuals. He said, “It’s never been about sexual orientation. It’s about marriage.”²²

Fast forward to April, 2015. Neither reconciliation nor rehabilitation occurred. Instead, the BOLI has suggested that the Kleins, who have remained strong and refused to compromise, be fined a total of $135,000 “for the emotional suffering” the lesbian couple “experienced” because Aaron and Melissa turned down their request for a same-sex wedding cake.²³

Writing for The Daily Signal, Kelsey Harkness explained the rationale for the exorbitant fines.

In order to reach $135,000, Rachel and Laurel submitted a long list of alleged physical, emotional and mental damages they claim to have experienced as a result of the Kleins’ unlawful conduct.

One of the women, whose name was redacted to protect her privacy, listed 88 symptoms as grounds for compensation. The other, whose name was also redacted, listed 90.

Examples of symptoms include “acute loss of confidence,” “doubt,” “excessive sleep,” “felt mentally raped, dirty and shameful,” “high blood pressure,” “impaired digestion,” “loss of appetite,” “migraine headaches,” “pale and sick at home after work,” “resumption of smoking habit,” “shock” “stunned,” “surprise,” “uncertainty,” “weight gain” and “worry.”²⁴

We do well here to reflect on just how bizarre this situation is, because it illustrates the perilous extent to which this country has abandoned the principles and virtues on which it was founded. In other words, it shows how far we’ve departed from reality. Take note—the list of adverse symptoms is not a description of what the Kleins experienced as a result of all they have been through. Instead, the Kleins are being blamed and held responsible for causing Rachel and Laurel to experience them—all because Aaron and Melissa turned down their request for a cake! Significantly, no doctor appeared at the hearing to validate Rachel’s and Laurel’s claims.²⁵ This truly is unreal!

Almost immediately after the BOLI recommended the fine, the Family Research Council arranged for a GoFundMe account to be set up on the Internet to make it easy for the Kleins’ supporters to assist the family financially. Contributors gave more than $100,000.00 in less than eight hours—but then the decision makers at GoFundMe shut the account down. Here was their explanation. “After careful review by our team, we have found the ‘Support Sweet Cakes By Melissa’ campaign to be in violation of our Terms and Conditions.” Money previously raised still would be used to help the family.²⁶ Subsequently, GoFundMe revised its terms and conditions to give it more latitude to determine whom it will serve and whom it won’t.²⁷ Yet, if GoFundMe has the right to turn down certain clients, why can’t Aaron and Melissa Klein have that same right? ²⁸^,²⁹

Hearing of GoFundMe’s decision to close the account, Franklin Graham, son of the Rev. Billy Graham and president of Samaritan’s Purse, set up a donation page on the Samaritan’s Purse website so people could assist the Kleins and other Christians who are being persecuted in the United States. [The page since has been deleted, but I’m informed that donations made to Samaritan’s Purse by phone can be designated to help US Christians who are under fire for practicing their faith.] Graham wrote,

The Kleins have already had to close their Oregon bakery business, Sweet Cakes by Melissa and do not have this money to pay. Aaron said it would financially ruin their family and could cost them their home. They have done nothing wrong, and their lives, along with their five children, have been turned upside down by this persecution. You can’t call it anything else. This is wrong, and it’s happening right here in our own country. Liberal judges and officials siding with the LGBT crowd are trying to make a point with the undeserved punishment of this family. This is America—we should have the freedom to live by our sincerely held religious beliefs. It’s obvious who is really being discriminated against here.³⁰

Let us not miss the some of the most important lessons coming out of the Kleins’ experience. Already we’ve talked about America’s departure from reality. Let’s expand on that a bit. As the consensus perspective in America shifted from a biblical worldview to a secular one, true justice was relegated to the back of the bus. As we said at the beginning, we now live in an upside-down world. Today in American culture, what ought to occur often doesn’t, and what shouldn’t occur frequently does. This is because people’s thinking is clouded, or we might say it is “grounded in mid-air”! Thus, alleged victims actually are predators and perpetrators, and those accused of being perpetrators are the real victims. Also, while we live in a country that was made great by free speech and by healthy debate, a concerted effort is now being made (with government backing) to silence those who dare to espouse politically incorrect views. Ironically, in the name of tolerance, tyranny is beginning to reign. This tyranny must be opposed!

Despite all the difficulty and harassment Aaron and Melissa have faced, the couple remains committed to doing what is right: “This fight is not over. We will continue to stand strong. Your religious freedom is becoming not free anymore. This is ridiculous that we cannot practice our faith. The LORD is good and we will continue to serve HIM with all our heart.”³¹

In Hebrews 11, the inspired writer of Hebrews wrote of Old Testament saints who were persecuted for their faith. They paid a heavy price for believing in the one true God and for acting on those beliefs. These were men and women “of whom the world was not worthy” (Heb. 11:38). Seeing Aaron and Melissa Klein and their resolve to do what is right even in the face of incredible opposition reminds us of those Old Testament saints and their New Testament counterparts. The Kleins’ resolve should inspire and encourage us as believers also to stand strong, regardless of cost.

The road before us will not be easy (see John 15:18-21), yet as we follow the Kleins’ example and remain strong, perhaps the Lord will work through us to put our nation, once again, right side up. Only if we so stand will religious liberty in America be restored and preserved.

Update, December, 2017: Court rules against Oregon bakers in wedding-cake case

Notes:

¹Quoted in “Humpty Dumpty”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humpty_Dumpty

²Francis A. Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live?, (Old Tappan, NJ: 1976), 110.

³http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/26/words-that-have-changed-meaning_n_4847343.html

⁴http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/26/words-that-have-changed-meaning_n_4847343.html

⁵http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/26/words-that-have-changed-meaning_n_4847343.html

⁶http://www.christianpost.com/news/evangelical-pastor-ken-hutcherson-i-am-the-gayest-man-i-know-74390/

⁷Chelsen Vicari, Distortion: How the New Christian Left is Twisting The Gospel and Damaging the Faith, (Lake Mary, FL: FrontLine, 2014), 76.

⁸http://www.frc.org/socialjustice

⁹https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence

¹⁰http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2006/06/the-mythical-wall-of-separation-how-a-misused-metaphor-changed-church-state-law-policy-and-discourse