LGBT Activist Now Supports Irish Bakery’s Right to Refuse to Make Pro-Gay Marriage ‘Bert and Ernie’ Cake

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LGBT Activist Now Supports Irish Bakery’s Right to Refuse to Make Pro-Gay Marriage ‘Bert and Ernie’ Cake
Christian Post Report – Daniel McArthur (C) general manager of Ashers bakery involved in a “gay cake” legal dispute speaks to the media outside Laganside court in Belfast. March 26, 2015. Ashers refused to make a cake bearing a pro-gay marriage slogan on it which was to be given to Andrew Muir, Northern Ireland’s first openly gay mayor. The bakers refused to make the cake on the grounds that it contradicted their religious beliefs according to local media.

A gay rights activist who previously favored prosecuting an Irish bakery for refusing to make a pro-gay marriage cake has changed his mind on the matter.

Peter Tatchell, a prominent LGBT activist in the U.K., penned a column for the Guardian that was published Monday in which he took to defending the rights of Ashers Bakery in Belfest, Northern Ireland.

Tatchell stated that while he disagreed with Ashers’ opposition to homosexuality, he nevertheless believed that the business had a right to refuse to make a pro-gay marriage cake.

“Much as I wish to defend the gay community, I also want to defend freedom of conscience, expression and religion,” wrote Tatchell.

“In my view, it is an infringement of freedom to require businesses to aid the promotion of ideas to which they conscientiously object. Discrimination against people should be unlawful, but not against ideas.”

Bert and Ernie (Photo: The Christian Institute Youtube screenshot)Bert and Ernie “support gay marriage” cake turned down by U.K. Christian bakery, facing threat of legal action in June 2014.

Tatchell also argued that the initial ruling against the bakery last year, which included fining them about 500 pounds, “sets a worrying precedent” that may lead to many troubling incidents.

“This raises the question: should Muslim printers be obliged to publish cartoons of Mohammed? Or Jewish ones publish the words of a Holocaust denier? Or gay bakers accept orders for cakes with homophobic slurs?” continued Tatchell.

“If the Ashers verdict stands it could, for example, encourage far-right extremists to demand that bakeries and other service providers facilitate the promotion of anti-migrant and anti-Muslim opinions. It would leave businesses unable to refuse to decorate cakes or print posters with bigoted messages.”

In 2014, Ashers Bakery was taken to court by LGBT activist Gareth Lee for their refusal to bake a pro-gay marriage cake featuring Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie.

Last May a Belfast County Court judge found the owners of Ashers guilty of discrimination, concluding that while the employees had “genuine and deeply held” religious beliefs, as a business they were not exempt from anti-discrimination law.

Ashers’ General Manager Daniel McArthur told BBC News following the May ruling that their refusal had nothing to do with Lee’s sexual orientation, but rather the specific message he wanted on the cake.

“We’ve said from the start that our issue was with the message on the cake, not with the customer and that we didn’t know what the sexual orientation of Mr Lee was, and it wasn’t relevant either,” said McArthur.

“The ruling suggests that all business owners will have to be willing to promote any cause or campaign, no matter how much they disagree with it.”

Tatchell’s column comes the same week that the Ashers Bakery owners have a hearing before an appellate court in Belfast.

Source : Christian Post

Hip-Hop Producer DJ Cooley Shares Testimony on Trading in the Clubs for Christ

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Hip-Hop Producer DJ Cooley Shares Testimony on Trading in the Clubs for Christ

Christian Post Report – New Jersey Rapper Fetty Wap poses with DJ Cooley.

Christian rapper DJ Cooley is sharing his testimony in a 6-minute video on YouTube in which he talks about his experiences in the hip-hop industry since the age of 15, and the moment that led him to fully seek God.

Cooley says that while he was partying and drinking during the week he was still going to church on Sundays but was beginning to feel convicted for the lifestyle he was leading.

“I was doing that stuff all week long and still going to church on Sunday. That’s crazy,” He admits. “You know how that goes, you have flexing Fridays, syrup sippin’ Saturdays, then you trying to be sanctified on Sunday. That was me.”

As he sat in church week after week, listening to sermon after sermon, the Camden, New Jersey-native said it “finally hit him.” A battle raged within him every time the pastor made an altar call and he described feeling nothing at times when everyone else around him basked in the presence of God, but then curiosity set in.

“I said ‘You know what, I’ma give this two months. I’ma seek God with all my heart for two months straight. No social media, no facebook, no instagram, no snapchat, no twitter, none of that,” he continues.

DJ Cooley(Photo: YouTube/DJ Cooley)DJ Cooley sits on a throne throwing money in rap music video, 2016.

Cooley reveals that he cut off his friends, stopped making music, and refrained from drinking and clubbing during that time and devoted himself to prayer, which is something he admits was not easy to do because of temptation.

“When you focus on God, God will put you around the right people,” he adds, acknowledging a crew of people who encouraged him along the way.

“Basically, what I’m trying to say is that God delivered me. God delivered me from that urge of wanting to be in the music industry, that urge for riches and fame. You know, seeking things of this world,” he attested. “Stop seeking the things of this world, start seeking the riches of God, start seeking the Kingdom of God.”

The rapper then urges his fans to earnestly seek God, with the assurance that God will show up and turn lives around.

“God will take you out the wilderness! God will take you out of that depression! God will take those suicidal thoughts out your head! God will remove the enemy out of your life that’s trying to attack you,” he declares. “All you gotta do is just seek Jesus. Just ask Jesus in your life. Just give him your heart.”

The young convert passionately went on to say that salvation is easy because Jesus in return fights all battles on behalf of his children. He quoted the Bible verse found in John 14:6 and gently assured his viewers that Jesus was the only way into the Kingdom of God.

With thousands of views the video testimony is making its rounds on the Internet and many are hoping that Cooley will witness to the rappers in the industry. He has produced for “Trap Queen” rapper Fetty Wap and many others in the industry and is credited as the producer of “Spaceships,” a song featuring Nikosi, Fetty Wap and North Maine.

Source : Christian Post