Oh, poor Barronelle

According to Alliance Defending Freedom (an anti-LGBT hate group) Barronelle Stutzman, proprietor of Arlene's Flowers and gifts in in Richland, WA, is the victim of government bullying. In an email Thursday from ADF's Kristen Waggoner:

Think for a minute about everything Barronelle has faced.

The State of Washington and the ACLU came after her. She’s been threatened with financial ruin. Her character and her professional reputation have been slandered in the media. She’s even received death threats.

Yeah, well, think about the people Barronelle Stutzman discriminated against. How did they feel when they were refused service? To garner some attention for herself Stutzman decided not to sell flowers to a gay couple because they would be used at their wedding. According to the briefs it seems that Stutzman was enthusiastically waiting for a gay couple to ask for her flowers so that she could discriminate. Stutzman received precisely what she wanted. Death threats? That's as idiotic as refusing to sell flowers.

ADF started trolling for “victims” when Washington became a marriage equality state in 2012. Wedding vendors were given an opportunity to be Christian heroes if they would persecute a gay couple by refusing to provide goods and services.

Furthermore, Stutzman was never threatened with financial ruin. She could have settled this matter for $5,000. Sanctimonious hypocrites like Ms. Waggoner have little regard for the truth. She hasn't paid one dime in legal fees which have been provided pro bono by ADF.

Waggoner's BS continues:

And do you know why Barronelle’s been treated this way? Simply because she chose to run her business in accordance with her Christian faith. Imagine how you would feel if you were Barronelle.

The Supreme Court reaffirmed in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado that religion does not permit religious exceptions to otherwise valid law (citing Newman v. Piggie Park). In our society people are not permitted to inflict their “faith” on others. Suppose she had declined to provide flowers for an interfaith or mixed-race marriage. We would not entertain the excuse: “she chose to run her business in accordance with her Christian faith.” Not for a second. But gays are different.

Stutzman's case has been remanded back to the Washington Supreme Court to determine if the state acted with religious animus. ADF is quite proficient with Christian calculus. They have probably raised many times their expenses off of this case. They are still raising money off of this case:

“Give us money or you could be next.” 

The simpler approach would be to refrain from expressing disapproval of gay people by refusing service. No one dies, the business gets the revenues that they might turn away and people save the money that they might donate to the hate group. When it comes to religion, my people would call that sensible approach yidishe kopf.

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