A Ruling against Masterpiece Cakeshop Would Threaten the Rights of Religious Minorities

Once again, the Colorado judicial system is being asked to consider the case of Masterpiece Cakeshop, a small business whose owner was asked—in what appears to have been a deliberate attempt to create grounds for a suit—to design a confection celebrating a “gender transition.” The owner, a devout Christian, demurred because of his religious beliefs. In an amicus brief filed on behalf of the Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty and several other organizations, Ian Speir and Howard Slugh consider some of the possible consequences of a ruling against Masterpiece:

While the litigated cases thus far have largely involved artists who identify with the Christian faith, artists of other, minority faiths—Jews and Muslims in particular—will be affected by the outcomes of these cases and the rules they establish.

The First Amendment protects all artists, and that protection is especially important to those with minority or countercultural beliefs. It is not just that the First Amendment tolerates difference and dissent. It ensures that expression is protected from the majority’s proclivity to silence speech and punish those who dare utter it. More fundamentally, it seeks to foster speech pluralism. That constitutional vision, grounded in the unique American creed of individual dignity and choice, requires that individuals, and artists especially, be able to express their beliefs without fear, be able to shape their own artistic messages—what they say and what they don’t—free of punishment and coercion.

When artists create, when they speak up, and when they keep silent, they are contributing to a diverse marketplace of ideas. Many will disagree with their message, and many will be troubled by their silence. That is as it should be.

Read more at Alliance Defending Freedom

More about: American law, Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech

Hizballah Is a Shadow of Its Former Self, but Still a Threat

Below, today’s newsletter will return to some other reflections on the one-year anniversary of the outbreak of the current war, but first something must be said of its recent progress. Israel has kept up its aerial and ground assault on Hizballah, and may have already killed the successor to Hassan Nasrallah, the longtime leader it eliminated less than two weeks ago. Matthew Levitt assesses the current state of the Lebanon-based terrorist group, which, in his view, is now “a shadow of its former self.” Indeed, he adds,

it is no exaggeration to say that the Hizballah of two weeks ago no longer exists. And since Hizballah was the backbone of Iran’s network of militant proxies, its so-called axis of resistance, Iran’s strategy of arming and deploying proxy groups throughout the region is suddenly at risk as well.

Hizballah’s attacks put increasing pressure on Israel, as intended, only that pressure did not lead Israelis to stop targeting Hamas so much as it chipped away at Israel’s fears about the cost of military action to address the military threats posed by Hizballah.

At the same time, Levitt explains, Hizballah still poses a serious threat, as it demonstrated last night when its missiles struck Haifa and Tiberias, injuring at least two people:

Hizballah still maintains an arsenal of rockets and a cadre of several thousand fighters. It will continue to pose potent military threats for Israel, Lebanon, and the wider region.

How will the group seek to avenge Nasrallah’s death amid these military setbacks? Hizballah is likely to resort to acts of international terrorism, which are overseen by one of the few elements of the group that has not yet lost key leaders.

But the true measure of whether the group will be able to reconstitute itself, even over many years, is whether Iran can restock Hizballah’s sophisticated arsenal. Tehran’s network of proxy groups—from Hizballah to Hamas to the Houthis—is only as dangerous as it is today because of Iran’s provision of weapons and money. Whatever Hizballah does next, Western governments must prioritize cutting off Tehran’s ability to arm and fund its proxies.

Read more at Prospect

More about: Hizballah, Israeli Security