There is a new case in the never ending war waged by homosexual activists on people of faith.

From the Washington Post:

The state Bureau of Labor and Industries will investigate whether Sweet Cakes by Melissa violated a 2007 state law that protects the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people in employment, housing and public accommodations, The Oregonian (http://bit.ly/13A5MrI) reported Wednesday.

In her complaint, Rachel N. Cryer, 30, said she went to the Gresham bakery on Jan. 17 for an appointment to order the cake. She met with owner Aaron Klein, who asked for the date and names of the bride and groom.

“I told him, ‘There are two brides and our names are Rachel and Laurel,’” the complaint says.

Klein responded that he and his wife didn’t serve same-sex weddings and “cited a religious belief for its refusal to make cakes for same-sex couples planning to marry,” the complaint says.

For the crime of refusing to participate in a shabby simulacrum of marriage a family business is now being investigated by the State of Oregon and, unless they toss away their religious beliefs, will be fined perhaps to the point of bankruptcy. According to the article there are no caps on the fines allowed under the law.

But all is not lost. The Kleins can repent:

“The goal is never to shut down a business. The goal is to rehabilitate,” [state labor commissioner Brad] Avakian said. “For those who do violate the law, we want them to learn from that experience and have a good, successful business in Oregon.”

This is a great example of how society will be ordered as Obama continues to define the First Amendment, not as Freedom of Religion, but in the New Deal parlance of Freedom of Worship. In other words, you can worship however you wish, so long as your church doesn’t oppose the regime then it will be investigated by the IRS, but you cannot bring your faith into the public square thus reducing religion from a civic virtue to a cultural oddity.

One of my favorite Catholic blogs makes another very good point. We have seen this before:

During the Cultural Revolution in China (1966-1976 – the time when the greatest damage was being done in the name of the Spirit of Vatican II) people were bullied into rejection of the sì jiù, the Four “Olds”: Old Customs, Old Culture, Old Habits, and Old Ideas.  The Four Olds were equated with monsters and demons, “cow ghosts and snake spirits”, that had to be purged.

The conforming hoards, taken up in a frenzy of fear and zeal, marched in the streets chanting slogans, pasting up posters, such as “Beat down the bad elements!”, “Beat down Jesus following!”, “Beat down the counter revolutionists!”.

Those who were perceived – usually through denunciation – to adhere to the Four Olds, counter-revolutionists, were seized.  The lucky ones were forced into public self-criticism, humiliation, physical abuse and re-education.  The less lucky were killed. Many “intellectuals” (just about any with more than a high school education) were sent to re-education camps in the country-side where they were “educated” by the purer proletariat through forced-labor and more self-criticism and abuse.

We aren’t there yet, but Stevie Wonder can see where we’re headed.