>> For many decades now, it has been the right of a business owner to refuse   
   >> service to anyone.   
      
   >> Not under the law.   
      
   > A business owner has the right to refuse to do business with anyone.   
   >Just because someone has a business doesn't automatically obligate that person   
   > to do business with anyone who walks in the door.   
      
   With some exceptions, they are legally obligated to do exactly that if it is a   
   "public accommodation."  Bakeries are included in the US Code's definition of   
   "public accommodation."  The owner can refuse service for some reasons, such   
   as "no shirt no service" or inability to pay or creating a disturbance, but   
   not for just any reason that the owner may want to assert.     
      
   > I personally witnessed, and heard of many, instances where a business refused   
   > service to someone who in turn, refused to leave until service was provided.   
   > The business owner or employee called the police, and in every instance the   
   > person refused service was compelled to leave.   
      
   Depends on the reason.  If the owner said "I don't serve left-handed people"   
   or "I don't serve Orientals" or "I don't serve anyone who is wearing a   
   uniform," they would not have been as successful.   
      
   >> I don;'t believe that there are any cake-related commandments in the bible.   
      
   > Nobody said there were. That is not the issue being raised.   
   > The issue is this:   
   > A pair of same-sex sodomites want to get `married' to each other.   
   > They wanted a wedding cake for this `wedding', and made the mistake of going   
   > to a devoutly-Christian baker's shop to order the cake.   
   >In line with his strong Christian beliefs, the baker refused to participate in   
   > an act that went against those beliefs.   
      
   That would be half-relevant to getting a marriage license.  If the marriage   
   wouldn't be legally recognized without a license, then the person granting the   
   license is "participating" in the wedding.  But the person baking the cake to   
   be eaten at the reception is not "participating" in the wedding.  The   
   reception could still be held without a cake, and the wedding could still be   
   held without a reception.   
      
   But those "beliefs" you talk about have nothing to do with the wedding.  You   
   believe that a sexual act between two people of the same sex is immoral.  That   
   has nothing to do with the wedding, let alone the cake.  People can have sex   
   outside of marriage, so the act of getting married just changes the   
   relationship between the two people.  It does not make the marriage immoral.   
      
   > Baking a cake for what you KNOW is a `marriage' that goes against your own   
   >Christian principles and Scriptural teachings, makes YOU a participant in what   
   > Christians see as a sinful, evil act; sodomy.   
      
   Baking a cake does not make the baker a participant in sodomy.  Except maybe   
   in some low budget porn movies.   
      
      
   --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Dada-1   
    * Origin: Prism bbs (1:261/38)