Cake wars

Twitter is an interesting place and I found myself replying to a tweet about the gay cake row. A user suggested finding a gay baker and asking for a cake with the text "marriage is between a man and a woman" to be made. Would it be discrimination if they refused?

I love questions like that because they force you to think.

The original gay cake simply asked for the message "Support Gay Marriage" to be on the cake above an image of Bert & Ernie from Sesame St. The Belfast bakery refused, citing their Christian beliefs. A court ruled that the customer is always right and said the bakery had discriminated against them.

If a gay baker refused to put the text "marriage is between a man and a woman" on a cake, would that be discrimination? Technically, the gay baker could argue that the cake text is not legally representative of marriage law: marriage is between any two adults, not just between a man and a woman. Could the baker take the person asking for this slogan to court for being discriminatory? I doubt it, as the baker is not being refused a service.

What if I asked for a large, circular cheese cake to be made and iced to look like the moon, with the text "see? the moon is made of cheese!" on it? That phrase is technically wrong - the moon is not made of cheese. Should the baker also refuse me on that basis?

I think it comes down to how we want to live in society. Do we want every business or social transaction to be conducted intra-tribal? That is, you keep within your own tribe at all times. Do we really want to go back to Catholics can't buy from Protestants, Gays can't speak to Straights, Blacks can't sit with Whites, Women can't work in the same office as Men, and so on?

Now some want a rule that Gays can't speak to Christians and Christians can't speak to Gays. So I think any gay bakery should fulfil the request to put any text on a cake, even if it is "marriage is between a man and a woman."

In a multi-belief society, it's in everyone's interests that businesses and public services are run in a single-belief way: no discrimination to any group.

One apt phrase springs to mind: "you can't have your cake and eat it," i.e. once your cake is eaten, you no longer have (possess) it. The phrase describes two competing but contradictory desires. In the context of 'cake wars,' Christians can't expect society to uphold their beliefs if they won't uphold the beliefs of others.

Again, the only way for society to run itself in the public sphere is for no individual group's beliefs to dominate. Truly, there's nothing like a cake to prove you can't have your cake and eat it.

If you agree, treat yourself to a cake - and please do eat it.