1st Amendment, Property Rights, Cake and Discrimination
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This week the supreme court rendered an opinion on the Christian baker that refused to make a cake for a gay couple’s wedding. This took place in Colorado which is one of 21 states that have anti discrimination laws. The case was tried at all levels with the Christian baker losing until the supreme court rendered an opinion in favor of the Christian bakers stating that it was a violation of his 1st Amendment right to be forced or fined by the government to bake a cake for a gay couple. Claiming that it was in conflict with his religious beliefs and being forced to do make the cake was a violation. This is all good as we see it here at CBL but we would have rather seen this tried as a property rights issue not a religious one. Though there is no disagreement that the government can’t fine people over conflicts with a person’s religious belief system this was almost even more basic than that. The government shouldn’t force or fine people for refusing service to anyone for any reason, it is the business owner’s property and they can do with it as they please as long as it doesn’t harm life, liberty or property.
One of the rights we have as people is that we own ourselves the by-products of our labor. This leads us to not having to give our labor to those we don’t want to. We are not to be forced to work for others we don’t want to. Every exchange in a free market is one made voluntarily. Every legal exchange between two individuals requires consent from both parties. If one party doesn’t consent but is then forced to or fined for not doing so that is tyranny, simple as that. As for the case with the cake it not only breaks down to a property rights but the question must be asked, why on earth would anyone want to have the government force someone else that hates them to bake them a cake?! This seems like a great plan to have an awful cake made and a stranger thing still to give money to a person that doesn’t like them. Property rights are important and so is freedom of association. You should never be forced to associate with anyone you don’t want to, especially by government force.
Some how this message often gets translated into something where people believe that libertarians are all racists or white supremacists. This idea of freedom is the quickest way to kill racism. How you might ask. Let racists be racist, in the free market of ideas the best ones will rise to the top. This is what has pushed racism to the low levels it is at today in America and what pushed the communist and fascist movements in the United States to near extinction. Thus through all this time the ideas and principles of liberty and freedom still soldier on, even when attacked by governments, looters, thieves and bandits since the dawn of time. It is when we stick to our principles and not falter that we shine and rise above the rest.
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Keep that coffee warm for us.
LWS
