Why not just make the cake? That's a question countless people across the country started asking in 2012, when Jack Phillips told two men who walked into his Masterpiece Cakeshop that he couldn't create a custom cake for their same-sex wedding. And the question only grew more urgent as Phillips had to defend himself first before the Colorado Civil Rights Commission and then numerous courts—losing at every step of the way until the US Supreme Court ruled in his favor in June 2018.
Why not just make the cake? Submitting would have been less frightening than facing relentless harassment and death threats. It would have been less costly than losing a major portion of his business when the state demanded that he design cakes for same-sex weddings or none at all. And it would have been easier than a decade of fighting for his rights—and his livelihood—in court, a fight he has been forced to continue even after his victory at the Supreme Court.
But for Jack Phillips, there are deeper principles at stake—principles too precious to abandon for the sake of convenience and safety. These principles should be of concern to every American, including Jack's adversaries. If the freedoms Jack has sought to protect are lost, they may never be regained.
