Barronelle Stutzman Is Still Whining And Lying

Barronelle Stutzman, owner of Arlene’s Flowers, you might remember, is the florist who sold flowers to gay couple Rob Ingersoll and Curt Freed for their gay birthdays and gay anniversaries and gay Christmases and gay holidays but then refused to sell them flowers for their gay wedding because … gay.

And so they sued for discrimination and she cried foul; she lost the case and she cried Christian persecution; she was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and says Rob and Curt tried to take away her home and business.

And now she’s at it again, writing whining in an opted for the Seattle Times, entitled “Why a friend is suing me: the Arlene’s Flowersstory,” and still trying to explain why her special brand of bigotry is okay.

In her op-ed she says that she and Rob Ingersoll were friends, and they shared a love for flowers and the creativity of flower arranging; she also says she knew that he was in a relationship with a man, and wants us all to know that he knew she was a Christian. That might be true, but I imagine that, after buying flowers from her for ten years, he didn’t know she was a bigot because, for those ten years, she loved working with Rob and sharing ideas for floral arrangements for the special events in his life … well, except for possibly the most special event in his life, the legal marriage to the man he loved and his request that she design something special:

“If all he’d asked for were prearranged flowers, I’d gladly have provided them. If the celebration were for his partner’s birthday, I’d have been delighted to pour my best into the challenge. But as a Christian, weddings have a particular significance.

Marriage does celebrate two people’s love for one another, but its sacred meaning goes far beyond that. Surely without intending to do so, Rob was asking me to choose between my affection for him and my commitment to Christ. As deeply fond as I am of Rob, my relationship with Jesus is everything to me. Without Christ, I can do nothing.”

Actually, you dim bulb, he was asking you to do what you’d been doing for him for years: create a flower arrangement. Your religion should have no play in that whatsoever and I bet the Baby Jeebus would come down on my side of that argument because of that whole “Judge not” business in the Bible.

But Barronelle judges; she then says Rob told her that he understood her position, and that she suggested three other florists in the neighborhood who weren’t as narrow-minded and bigoted and anti-gay. And then he sued …

“For artists, creativity is the very core of who we are. Our ability to draw on our deepest beliefs and unique sensibilities enables us to create one-of-a-kind works of art and works of the heart. An artist really can’t separate his or her work from the soul. Even if I’d tried to do that for Rob, some part of my heart would not really have been in what I was doing. A man with Rob’s artistic eye would have seen that and been disappointed.”

So, because Rob is creative he should understand bigotry and intolerance? He should understand that breaking the law because you believe the Baby Jeebus told you so is okay? It’s not, Barronelle, and as much as you whine and try to rewrite history it’s not ever going to be okay. I will say this again to you in the hopes that you might get it this time and just shut your yap:

You were not asked to partake in their wedding; you were not an invited guest; you were not any part of their wedding. Your flowers were to be included in the ceremony and they have nothing to do with your faith whatsoever. It’s flowers; it’s a service you provide to anyone and everyone who comes into your shop because that’s why you opened a shop and because it’s the law that you not discriminate against anyone.

And then she plays that tired card that Rob Ingersoll and Curt Freed were suing her to take her business and her home and her livelihood which is an outright lie.

“I’ve never questioned Rob’s and Curt Freed’s right to live out their beliefs. And I wouldn’t have done anything to keep them from getting married, or even getting flowers. Even setting aside my warm feelings for them, I wouldn’t have deliberately taken actions that would mean the end of being able to do the work I love or risk my family’s home and savings.”

You’re a liar, Barronelle Stutzman; the fine you were ordered to pay was a thousand dollars … not your home … not your business … not your life. I don’t think the Baby Jeebus looks too kindly on liars.

“This case is not about refusing service on the basis of sexual orientation or dislike for another person who is preciously created in God’s image. I sold flowers to Rob for years. I helped him find someone else to design his wedding arrangements. I count him as a friend.”

I love that she keeps saying she sold flowers to Rob for years, but this one time, for this one event, it was suddenly just too much; she cannot play the “I have no problem with gay people getting married” and then refuse service to them. But let’s listen to her at the end:

“I want to believe that a state as diverse as Washington, with our long commitment to personal and religious freedoms, would be as willing to honor my right to make those kinds of choices as it is to honor Rob’s right to make his. That’s not endorsing a negative thing, as I’ve been accused of doing. It’s promoting good things: reason, fairness and mutual tolerance.”

Oh Siddown, you fool. You have a right to your own personal religious freedoms, you just cannot …. And I’ll say it slowly so you might finally understand it:

You        cannot        use        your         personal        religious        beliefs       to         deny         service        at       your       public        business        to       anyone.

Seriously, Barronelle. Stop talking. Stop trying to make yourself the victim here. You’re a bigot hiding behind the robes of Jesus and, once again, he’s very disappointed in you.

Seattle Times