A word of caution before you read this article. If you suffer from high blood pressure you may want to do some deep breathing exercises before you read this. And if this information doesn’t make your blood boil, you need to check and make sure your heart is still beating…
During October 2015 an Illinois jury awarded two former Somali refugees $240,000.00 in a religious discrimination suit against their former employer, Stuart Transport. The Muslim truck drivers, Mahad Abass Mohamed and Abdkiarim Hassan Bulshale refused to deliver beer to stores for their employer – Stuart Transport.
The two drivers were fully aware that beer deliveries were a part of their job description when they were hired. And there is no Islamic Sharia law which forbids the handling of unopened alcohol – only the consumption of such. Understandably, since the drivers refused to perform their duties, Stuart Transport terminated their employment. B-i-i-i-i-i-g mistake!
Enter Obama’s bully boys: the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) represented the two Muslim petitioners in this case against Stuart Transport – thereby bringing the entire might of the federal judicial system down on this small trucking company. I must hasten to add that we as taxpayers supplied thousands of dollars in funding this travesty of justice on behalf of Mr. Obama. We can only wonder if the plaintiffs’ names – Mohamed and Hassan were motivating factors that caused Mr. Obama to pursue this case, or if he merely wanted to placate Muslims at the expense of this small business.
Here follows the official statement made by the Obama administration: “We are proud to support the rights of workers to equal treatment in the workplace without having to sacrifice their religious beliefs or practices; its fundamental to the American principles of religious freedom and tolerance.” To make this more of an affront to freedom of religion advocates – the Obama administration basically “fixed” the outcome by having one of their liberal judicial appointees on the bench for the trial.
Interestingly when Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa refused to bake a wedding cake for a lesbian woman’s homosexual “marriage” ceremony – based on their religious beliefs – the EEOC was as quiet as a church mouse.
Laurel and Rachel Bowman-Cryer filed a complaint with the state of Oregon claiming to suffer from eighty-eight separate symptoms of mental anguish – including “surprise,” being “stunned,” experiencing a “dislike of going to work,” and that one or both of them had resumed smoking. State officials agreed and accused the Kleins of violating the Oregon Equality Act of 2007.
The lesbian couple originally sought just $400 in settlement, the price of one of Melissa’s custom cakes, but Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian decided they deserved more. Judge Alan McCullough agreed and issued a Proposed Order that assessed an amount of $135,000 against the Kleins, awarding $60,000 to Laurel Bowman-Cryer and $75,000 in damages to Rachel for their suffering. Although not a part of the adjudication, the Kleins also lost their business and face the foreclosure of their home if the settlement isn’t paid by the court ordered date.
In addition to the settlement Commissioner Avakian ordered the Kleins to “cease and desist” from making any statements regarding their refusal to bake cakes for homosexual weddings based on their religious views; thereby also violating their 1st Amendment right to the exercise of free speech.
The double standard exhibited by the government in supporting the right of two Muslim truck drivers to sidestep their job responsibility based on religious “conviction” – and then punishing the small cake business, is clearly implementing one set of laws for one faith and another set of laws for the other. It should be a case of what’s good for the goose is also good for the gander, but obviously in this oh, so politically correct environment Muslim rights are more equal than that of Christians.
We have reached a situation in America which reminds one of the old Jerry Reed song “She got the goldmine – I got the shaft!” Unless one belongs to a special, privileged group – our government doesn’t consider your equal rights equal—just ask the woman who went to jail for refusing to issue homosexual marriage licenses.
Have a good week. Bill Shuey is a freelance writer from North Carolina.
Just for the record, it was Star Transport of Peoria, Il. They’re bankrupt now anyway, so the ragheads probably struck out.