The owners of Memories Pizza, a small town pizzeria in Indiana, were subjected to bullying and threatened with harm after they commented on television that their store would not cater to a same-sex wedding, the conservative US Christian group Family Research Council reported.
Kevin O'Connor and his daughter informed the group that they became the victims of bullying after they were interviewed on television last year where they said they would continue serving everyone in their store regardless of their customers' sexual orientation but would decline catering to a same-sex wedding.
Because of this remark, they received a barrage of criticism and threats, with someone even threatening to burn down their pizza store, the owners said. They eventually closed the store as a result of the threats.
Commenting on the incident in an article in Charisma News, Travis Weber of the Family Research Council notes that what happened is an indication that "much of the media today soundly disparages any business owner who even voices their religious beliefs regarding same-sex marriage."
Despite the threats on the pizza owners, Weber says they did not report the matter to the police or take precautionary measures.
"They did not answer threats with threats, but continued to calmly explain that they would happily serve gay customers; they just didn't want to be a part of the wedding," he says.
However, right after the pizza owners stated that they would rather not cater to same-sex weddings, a certain Robin Trevino, in a video, claimed that Memories Pizza "catered" to his same-sex wedding.
Trevino said he went to Memories Pizza and ordered without stating his reason. He then brought the pizzas to his wedding and videotaped the reception showing the pizzas and their boxes with the Memories Pizza label.
"While the charade itself is sort of childish, it does hold several lessons for us. (O'Connor) is actually not really too interested in the actions of his customer after selling him the pizza," Weber writes.
"It is an undisputed fact that Memories Pizza served a man regardless of his sexual relationships. Its owners did not deny him service. They didn't 'turn him away.' They didn't quiz the man when he came in, asking whether he identified as a homosexual, or what he would use the pizza for," Weber says.
Weber says O'Connor did not respond with claims that his conscience was violated.
"Conscience is not violated merely by the occurrence of events; there must be knowledge of what one is getting oneself into or being forced to participate in," he writes.
"It must be emphasised that the wedding vendors around the country who are asserting their religious freedom are doing so because they are knowingly being forced to participate in an act which violates their conscience, not because a customer disagrees with them on matters of sexuality," Weber says.
O'Connor, the author writes, "is not asking to "turn away" people.
"He is only asking that he not be forced to violate his conscience by knowingly participating in a wedding ceremony that runs counter to his religious beliefs. Memories Pizza's unproblematic 'catering' of the same-sex wedding in this case shows as much," he says.
"The small business owners involved in these matters are not asking for a 'blank check' to do whatever they want. They are advancing sincere conscience claims against being forced to knowingly use their businesses for certain ends, and are often happy to forgo the lost income and even refer the potential customer to another business where they can find what they need,' he adds.
