Why you can take a knee but MUST bake a cake.
INAL, but I am a First Amendment activist/scholar, so lemmie take a stab at 'splainin' this. (Lawyers, if I have something wrong, please elaborate.)
Q:So, why is it legal to protest by taking a knee during the national anthem but not refuse to bake an LGBTQ couple a cake? Aren't both protected by the First Amendment?
A: Because taking a knee denies nobody a service to which they are entitled because of your problem with their race, color, gender, orientation, or creed. The First Amendment protects your intellectual freedom and the right to the use of your conscience, but that does not grant a license to discriminate.
You can still believe that LGBTQ people should not be allowed to marry. Having to serve them equally does not deny you the right to have that belief or the right to say, "Your marriage is against my religion." Nor does it force your church to marry them or recognize their marriage. (But if your church rents out grounds/facilities to people not of your church for events ....)
You can refuse a commission for any reason that isn't grounded in the patron's creed, religion, race, gender, or orientation. It's the same reason "no shirt, no shoes, no service" is still legal.
Don't want to take a commission/perform a service? There are ways out if it that violate nobody's rights and preserve your integrity:
"I'm sorry, I don't draw/make things like that."
"I'm sorry, I'm not taking commissions/my list is full right now, let me refer you to ...."
"Church facilities are rented out to non-members only for secular events. For religious reasons we cannot allow non-members to use church owned facilities for events related to a holy occasion such as a baptism, wedding (including anniversaries), funeral/memorial/wake, worship service, or a religious rite of passage."
You can even say, "I think you're a jerk and I don't want your money/business."
All of these are a world away from:
"I won't draw/make/do[thing] for you because of your race/religion/beliefs/gender/orientation."
"I'll bake a wedding cake for anybody but [your kind of people]."
Or in other words, here's what the self-righteous, holier-than-thou dingdong from that bakery should've said to the LBGTQ couple:
"Because of my personal religious and moral beliefs, I do not feel that I can put my best work into any cake I make for you. I can make it, and it will be competently made because I am a professional, but I cannot make it with love, and would be phoning it in. Would you like me to refer you to somebody who can do justice to a cake for this occasion?"
Q:So, why is it legal to protest by taking a knee during the national anthem but not refuse to bake an LGBTQ couple a cake? Aren't both protected by the First Amendment?
A: Because taking a knee denies nobody a service to which they are entitled because of your problem with their race, color, gender, orientation, or creed. The First Amendment protects your intellectual freedom and the right to the use of your conscience, but that does not grant a license to discriminate.
You can still believe that LGBTQ people should not be allowed to marry. Having to serve them equally does not deny you the right to have that belief or the right to say, "Your marriage is against my religion." Nor does it force your church to marry them or recognize their marriage. (But if your church rents out grounds/facilities to people not of your church for events ....)
You can refuse a commission for any reason that isn't grounded in the patron's creed, religion, race, gender, or orientation. It's the same reason "no shirt, no shoes, no service" is still legal.
Don't want to take a commission/perform a service? There are ways out if it that violate nobody's rights and preserve your integrity:
"I'm sorry, I don't draw/make things like that."
"I'm sorry, I'm not taking commissions/my list is full right now, let me refer you to ...."
"Church facilities are rented out to non-members only for secular events. For religious reasons we cannot allow non-members to use church owned facilities for events related to a holy occasion such as a baptism, wedding (including anniversaries), funeral/memorial/wake, worship service, or a religious rite of passage."
You can even say, "I think you're a jerk and I don't want your money/business."
All of these are a world away from:
"I won't draw/make/do[thing] for you because of your race/religion/beliefs/gender/orientation."
"I'll bake a wedding cake for anybody but [your kind of people]."
Or in other words, here's what the self-righteous, holier-than-thou dingdong from that bakery should've said to the LBGTQ couple:
"Because of my personal religious and moral beliefs, I do not feel that I can put my best work into any cake I make for you. I can make it, and it will be competently made because I am a professional, but I cannot make it with love, and would be phoning it in. Would you like me to refer you to somebody who can do justice to a cake for this occasion?"