Oregon investigates baker’s refusal to serve same-sex wedding and other briefs

The state of Oregon is now investigating a bakery owner who, citing religious reasons refused to provide a wedding cake for a so-called same-sex ceremony.  The State Bureau of Labor and Industries will investigate whether the business violated a 2007 law that protects gays and lesbians.  This is the tenth such complaint that the bureau has investigated since the law was passed. The state’s Labor Commissioner, Brad Avakian, said this about the investigation, “The goal is never to shut down a business.  The goal is to rehabilitate.” In other words, to get the business owner to “think correctly.” So much for the tolerant left!

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You might recall that the commander of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson removed from the base website an essay penned by Lt. Col. Kenneth Reyes, a Christian chaplain serving at the Alaska air base. The essay was entitled “‘No Atheists in Foxholes’: Chaplains Gave All in World War II." An atheists’ group had demanded that the Air Force punish Reyes for what he called an “anti-secular diatribe” for using the "no atheists in foxholes" reference. Within hours of the complaint, the essay was gone. Now the posting has been restored with the disclaimer the views reflected on the website are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Air Force.

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Two men charged with a misdemeanor for reading the Bible to a group of people waiting outside a California Department of Motor Vehicles office have been acquitted by a judge. The judge who entered the verdict ruled the prosecution failed to present enough evidence that the church leaders committed a crime by reading aloud from the Bible before the DMV opened.

Robert Tyler, general counsel with Advocates for Faith & Freedom and who will be our guest next week on Faith on Trial, said the ruling is a win for people of faith. "This case, I think, is somewhat symbolic of the battle that we have seen occur in the United States over Christian worldview in an attempt to silence [that] worldview,” he said.