semi,
The Kleins did not claim to be "perfect people" and no one else is claiming that these women are "perfect people" so that part of your post is totally irrelevant. Nor did they claim never to have done anything to violate their consciences or religious freedom. Again, your shallow and presumptuous preconceptions go down the porcelain throne.
The Oregon Labor Commissioner, Brad Avakian, stated the following concerning this case:
""The goal is never to shut down a business. The goal is to rehabilitate," Avakian said. "For those who do violate the law, we want them to learn from that experience and have a good, successful business in Oregon."
http://www.oregonlive.com/gres...refused_wedding.html
What can "rehabilitate" mean as it applies to this case? It sounds as though Mr. Avakian finds the beliefs of the Kleins to be so much out of step with society that they need to be changed to accept lesbianism as a normal and acceptable thing. My dictionary lists four definitions for "rehabilitation, and all of them have to do with RESTORING something. Someone please tell me what there is about this couple's past or present beliefs or actions that needs to be RESTORED. Since the Kleins apparently have long and consistently held their religious views concerning homosexuality, there is nothing here that needs to be RESTORED, there having been no prior period in which the Kleins held views different from those they now hold. Commissioner Avakian is trying not to overtly contend that the Kleins need to overhaul their beliefs, but that appears to be what he actually has in mind and that is what evidently prompted him to blither his nonsense about rehabilitation.
My analysis of this matter might seem a stretch to some of you, but consider this. Those who hold religious scruples against homosexuality often are accused of having a mindset analogous to that of racist segregationists. Thus, to follow the analogy to its illogical conclusion, since racists need, and would benefit by such counseling and education as would reform their racist prejudices, likewise those who sincerely believe that homosexuality is immoral would profit, along with society, if they could be persuaded to accept homosexuality as normal and natural.
All of that is a part of the allegedly nonexistent GAY AGENDA, which in reality is every bit as existent as the solar system or the Eurasian land mass.