Put Satan on a birthday cake. Do it now. Add an upside-down cross.

Confrontational cake requests could improve our understanding of civil liberties, as defined by the U.S. Constitution.

Consider the case of Jack Phillips, a well-known cake artist and founder of Masterpiece Cake Shop in Lakewood. Phillips declined to design a cake celebrating a same-sex couple’s planned wedding, and the courts told him he had no right. Freedom of association, freedom of religion and freedom of speech have become fuzzy in a well-intentioned effort to advance gay rights and acceptance of same-sex relationships.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the Phillips case in December and rule next year on what rights, if any, artists have to decline requests for expressions that violate their values. The case is not about same-sex marriages or gay rights. It is about freedom of speech, freedom of religion and the First Amendment’s ability to protect unpopular religious beliefs.

Contemplate a couple from Westboro Baptist Church ordering a wedding cake, from a gay baker, that contains their religious mantra “God hates f-s.” The disgusting slogan is fully protected by the First Amendment and other civil rights laws. If one cannot discriminate in places of public accommodation, on a basis of a customer’s odd religious beliefs, the baker must fulfill the order.

Unless and until the Supreme Court tells us what work artists may and may not refuse, we are likely to see experimental and confrontational testing. Phillips recently received a written request for a cake to celebrate the birthday of Satan. It reads:

Dear Mr Phillips

I would like to get a quote on a birthday cake, for a special event. It is a cake that is religious in theme, and since religion is a protected class, I am hoping that you will gladly bake this cake. As you see the birthday cake in question is to celebrate the birthday of Lucifer, or as they are also known Satan who was born as Satan when he was cast from heaven by God. The cake only needs to be a simple 9×13 single layer cake, with red and black icing. As well as to contain an upside down cross, under the head of Lucifer. And I thought I would seek you out, to bake this cake since you appear to be a very moral person since you refused to bake a cake for same sex couples. And since religion is a protected class, I hope you will be willing to bake this cake, so my small group of religious friends can celebrate the birthday of Lucifer this coming November, just a few days after Halloween.

Sincerely,

(Name redacted)

The law gives no more weight to popular sentiment than to marginal views. A government that forces artists to express anything customers demand could force black bakers to express beliefs of white supremacists. It might force a Jewish baker to design frosting Swastikas, a Muslim bakers to depict a pig roast, or a Christian to celebrate Satan with an upside-down cross. This cannot be what the framers had in mind.

Free speech means freedom to say “no” to demands for unique expressions, whether the majority likes it.

The Gazette editorial board