Christan cake should not have ended up in court
A CHRISTIAN baker’s refusal on religious grounds to make a cake supporting gay marriage has ended up in court.
This is a dispute that could have been solved before it had even begun simply through common sense and manners.
While it is reasonable for Christians with a strong opposition to gay marriage not to want to support the institution, the bakery had no reason to make its stand so antagonistic.
It should have politely declined to make the cake without making any reference to religious beliefs. Similarly the man trying to buy the cake could quietly have found another bakers in Belfast who would have willingly taken his order.
Given that the customer is a gay rights activist it is perhaps unsurprising that he took such a determined view of the bakery’s decision but common sense should have prevailed.
While it is reasonable for Christians with a strong opposition to gay marriage not to want to support the institution, the bakery had no reason to make its stand so antagonistic
In order for us to get along we all have to be flexible and make compromises sometimes. It is important to respect the baker’s right to act in accordance with his religious belief and the customer’s right to be gay.
These parties could easily have avoided their dispute developing into anything more than a difference of opinion.
Solution to pilot suicides
Yesterday a French prosecutor said that the Germanwings airliner appeared to have been deliberately crashed by co-pilot Andreas Lubitz.
It is a stark reminder of how we are all at the mercy of pilots when we fly, especially given anti-terror rules since 9/11 that have made it much more difficult to get into the cockpit.
Pilot suicide is still one of the most plausible explanations for the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 and these are not the only examples of pilots taking their own lives by deliberately crashing planes.
For all the security measures passengers have to comply with and the mechanical checks carried out on the planes there are no serious systems in place to prevent the dangerous actions of pilots.
In order for us to get along we all have to be flexible and make compromises sometimes. It is important to respect the baker’s right to act in accordance with his religious belief and the customer’s right to be gay.
These parties could easily have avoided their dispute developing into anything more than a difference of opinion.
Royally deserved
Dame Joan Collins said that being given a damehood was something she had not expected “in a billion years” but yesterday she went to Buckingham Palace and collected the honour from Prince Charles. The star of TV soap The Royals fully deserved this trip to see real-life royalty.
