what about sell only coupled figurines (M-F) and charge them twice...then leave off the cake?
“..oop can't break up sets , we sell only sets....”
In general, I oppose the idea that private business can be forced to accept customers.
On the other hand, if you have a retail store, and it is people pulling items off shelves and bringing them to your cash register, I don’t feel like fighting for the idea that you could refuse a particular customer. And selling your product off the shelf to all comers wouldn’t really be an assault on your beliefs, as you would simply choose whether to make a product available.
But in these cases like the baker, you are talking about a SERVICE task, where you are paid to create something for a client. And if the government can force you to serve a client, you are a slave of the state.
I find it illustrative to use extreme analysis. Could the baker decide to retire rather than create a cake for this couple? Or would the state be allowed to FORCE this baker to continue to work, making a cake for a client he doesn’t want to serve? Hence my comment about painters being forced to make paintings of particular items.
And if the baker quit, would he not have the right to decide to go back into business tomorrow? Or can the government force you to not do business?
We are heading into forced labor territory with the health care law, and with these lawsuits. In Maryland, a guy owned a horse-drawn trolley which he rented out for weddings, but he had to close up shop because Maryland decided if he had a license, he had to support same-sex weddings. So now normal married couples can’t hire this christian trolley, because he doesn’t want to serve atheist lesbians.