A Christian baker who was taken to court for declining to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding has now been asked to make a birthday cake for Satan.
Jack Phillips received an email asking for a cake with an “upside down cross, under the head of Lucifer.”
American news outlet The Daily Signal obtained a copy of the email, which shows that Phillips was asked for “a quote on a birthday cake, for a special event” that was “religious in theme”.
Satanic cake requests
Phillips – who has run Masterpiece Cakeshop for over 20 years – told The Daily Signal that his Christian faith prevents him from designing cakes that involve elements of witchcraft or explicit sexuality.
He received a separate request over the phone to bake another cake, featuring Satan smoking cannabis.
The baker lost his initial court case in 2013 when a ruling found that he had violated the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act.
Legal battle
But his legal battle has continued and Phillips’ case is now scheduled to be heard by the US Supreme Court in December.
He is being represented in his case by religious liberty group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
ADF say it was the purpose of the cake, and not the customer, that Phillips objected to.
Big implications
Jeremy Tedesco, a Senior Counsel for ADF, said the ‘Satanic’ cake requests show “the danger of using these kinds of laws to force people in the artistic profession to create artwork that violates their beliefs”.
Tedesco believes that the people who requested the cake will attempt to say “the law covers my request”.
“For the Satanists, they’re going to say it’s religious discrimination for you to say no to a cake that I’m requesting because of my protected status”, he added.
Phillips’ case has big implications for religious liberty and free speech in the US. Last month, he received formal backing from the US Justice Department, which stepped in to file a court brief on his side.