This week a UK judge ruled that a Christian-run bakery discriminated against a gay customer by refusing to make a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan.  Ashers Baking Company, based in County Antrim, was taken to court by gay rights activist Gareth Lee.

Hello, this is Nick Barnes, with Bible in the News.

We read in Isa 5:20-21

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

And the Bible teaches that sexual immorality (whether fornication, adultery or homosexuality) is wrong; and rightly so, for the consequence of such behaviour is family breakdown with all its social ills; with children and the innocent party being the first to suffer.  And in the UK alone, hundreds of thousands of sexually transmitted infections occur each year – unnecessary cases which can ruin lives, including those not immediately responsible, such as the spouses of the unfaithful, unborn children and even the thousands of haemophiliacs who perished due to contaminated blood products, produced in the 1980s.

And yet modern western society is so obsessed with sex and with sexual freedom, that it is treated as a “right” and as a necessity of life, like having food to eat.  The freedom to fulfil one’s lusts outweighs all its evils and certainly is more important than allowing a poor and principled baker to make an honest living.

And it is a fundamental as that.  The Equality Commission were reported as suggesting that Ashers should close down if unwilling to conform.   Guesthouse owners have already been driven out of business, and out of home, by similar judgements – and employees in many fields, already have to choose between signing ethics policies, which are contrary to biblical teachings, and losing their jobs.

In politics, it is said, extreme right meets left – as a comparison of Stalin & Hitler soon demonstrates.  Likewise laws, in western countries, have become so permissive and so against discrimination, that they have become authoritarian and discriminatory.  In their rush to protect sexual freedom, they have become like the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, who caused…

…all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark… (Rev 13:16-17)

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! (Isa 5:20-21)

And God will judge the world and its wickedness in His own good time.  It is not for Bible believers to take the law into their own hands, for God says “vengeance is mine, I will repay”.  And until then believers have to be willing to “suffer for righteousness sake” – and that may mean the loss of employment and income.

Incidentally, the conclusion of the of the Ashers Bakery case coincided with the showing, at the Cannes Film Festival, of the film “Carol” a “coming of age lesbian drama”.  Apparently, “this sensuous and deeply felt love story is already a hot contender…” for an Oscar.

This is a corrupt and corrupting society, where journalist, judge and film maker combine to raise sexual freedoms to the top of a hierarchy of “rights”.  And together, they are not judging a bakery; they are judging God.

“Why Ashers?” the bakery’s website asks.  Its answer is that “contrary to popular opinion we are not called Mr & Mrs Asher. Our name comes from the Bible. Asher was a tribe of Israel who had many skilled bakers and created bread fit for a king.” (Gen 49v20)

How long, we wonder, would it be before these “…that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight” would ban the Bible altogether?  We pray that, God willing, such a time never comes, and instead the time will first come when God will

“…set [his]king upon [his]holy hill of Zion.”

…for then he will

…break them with a rod of iron; [and] shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. 10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. (Psa 2:6, 9-11)

See you again next week for another Bible in the News.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-32791239

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-24159559