For the people of Northern Ireland, hatred that forces honest people out of business has become a virtue protected by the law.

In the face of overwhelming opposition to today’s narratives it is difficult to step out and give not only a dissenting opinion, but to also state the obvious. The Christian bakers that Mr. Lee deliberately targeted did not have a problem serving him, they would not put those letters or words on the cake.

The judgement today was very clear. It said unequivocally, faith is important, but faith cannot set aside equality legislation that has been long fought. [Equality Commission]

This begs the question: when is a right actually not really a right? Faith cannot trump gay rights said the ominous-sounding Equality Commission, but one does wonder why Lee did not challenge a Muslim business, and would the commission have been so glib with any other faith other than Christianity? The United Kingdom is far ahead on the curve when it comes to the ‘hierarchy of rights‘; one of the rights has to win even if both are so-called ‘protected’ (John Locke must be shaking his head: God-given rights cannot be given or taken by government). In this case the religious rights of the bakery owners is trumped by the sexual orientation rights of the accuser.

Again, Lee could have bought any cake. He could have ordered a cake with message that does not disparage Christian beliefs. He could also have gone to another cake store, he could have respected the beliefs of the owners and he could have kept away from the media. But he didn’t. He decided to hurt this business when they did him no harm. Gareth Lee is the true face of hatred.