About Rod D. Martin
Praise for Rod D. Martin
Book Rod to Speak
Politics & Economics
Technology & Markets
Faith & Culture
by Diana Chandler
February 6, 2018
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (BP) — A California trial court has upheld a Christian baker’s right to refuse to create a wedding cake for a lesbian couple, but the decision comes as a similar case is already pending in the nation’s highest court.
Standing to set a legal precedent is the case of Colorado baker and Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips, deliberated before the U.S. Supreme Court in December 2017. A ruling is expected within months in Phillips’ fight to limit his creativity as a wedding cake baker to marriages between a man and a woman.
In California, Southern Baptist pastor Roger Spradlin was among about 200 of Miller’s supporters who attended a Feb. 2 Bakersfield prayer rally in advance of Lampe’s decision.
“She declined to design a wedding cake for a lesbian couple’s wedding, not because she is not loving or compassionate,” Spradlin told Baptist Press today (Feb. 6), “but because of her own religious and biblical convictions that marriage was designed by God between one man and one woman.”
Spradlin urges continued prayer on behalf of Miller, a longtime member at his pastorate, Valley Baptist Church in Bakersfield.
“I encourage all Christians to continue to pray about this important biblical issue as a similar case is being decided by the U.S. Supreme Court,” Spradlin said. “We are pleased that the court courageously ruled to follow the Constitution rather than prevailing culture in protecting Cathy’s religious freedom to follow her conscience.”
Lampe, in his decision, wrote that both freedom of speech and a nondiscriminatory marketplace are laudable and necessary but said the facts of the case favor Miller. The state’s complaint, based on the Unruh Act, which prohibits discrimination based on both religion and sexual orientation, lacks the merit to succeed, Lampe said.
“The difference here is that the cake in question is not yet baked. The State is not petitioning the court to order defendants to sell a cake,” Lampe wrote. “The State asks this court to compel Miller to use her talents to design and create a cake she has not yet conceived with the knowledge that her work will be displayed in celebration of a marital union her religion forbids.
“For this court to force such compliance would do violence to the essentials of Free Speech guaranteed under the First Amendment,” Lampe wrote.
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing had sought a preliminary injunction to force Miller to either bake wedding cakes for homosexual couples or stop selling wedding cakes, which comprise 40 percent of her sales. The state filed the petition after Miller refused in August 2017 to design a wedding cake for Eileen and Mireya Rodriguez-Del Rio.
Hailing the California ruling a victory is the nonprofit Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund (FCDF), Miller’s defense team in the case, Department of Fair Employment and Housing vs. Cathy’s Creations, Inc.
“This is a major victory for faith and freedom because the judge indicated in his ruling that the State cannot succeed in this case as a matter of law,” FCDF chief counsel Charles LiMandri said today in a press release. “No doubt the California officials will continue their persecution of Cathy, but it is clear that she has the Constitution on her side.”
FCDF Executive Director Daniel Piedra has established a fundraiser for Miller at GoFundMe.com with a $100,000 goal. The 10-day-old campaign had raised just over $1,300 as of this morning.
—Christian Wedding Cake Baker Wins Calif. Court Battle originally appeared at Baptist Press News.
Rod is one of our nation’s leading minds. He’s smart, original, and very committed—a combination that one rarely finds.
Rod Martin and [former Howard Dean campaign manager] Joe Trippi are America’s two foremost experts on online politics.
Rod Martin is a Reaganite-Thatcherite conservative…[and] a man who has spent much of his life ministering to and working for the benefit of others. I know Rod as an advocate for freedom, a leader who understands the real changes we need in Washington, and who has the drive and ability to make those changes happen.
Rod Martin is the kind of dynamic leader who has the knowledge, ability and experience to lead us successfully into the 21st Century. His vision for America is compelling.
Rod Martin literally wrote the book on excellence. Humble yet brilliant, a man of love and compassion, with penetrating clarity he illuminates the world around us, and we are both stirred and enlightened.
Rod Martin is a born leader and an outstanding political mind. Anyone who takes him on is going to have a serious fight on their hands.
Rod Martin is a man of uncommon vision and character. Ever since I first worked alongside Rod in the early days of PayPal, I’ve been struck by his powerful vision for the future. Rod understands the intersection of technology, politics and culture in a way that few others do.
Rod Martin wears with uncommon grace an uncanny ability to link his vigorous faith to the practical challenges of both the business world and the political arena. Yet the respect he shows for others carries a warmth and modesty that are both too rare among those who are strong advocates of feisty positions.
America badly needs more leaders who really get the future. We need more Rod Martins.
Rod Martin is a modern day philosopher-statesman. He is a capitalist intellectual, a conservative iconoclast, a gentle adversary and a kind prophet. He inspires us towards a fresh national vision built upon the original founding principles.
Rod Martin is not only effective and efficient, but he is also perceptive, wise and gracious. He gets things done. He is a great friend and a great ally.
Rod is one of the sharpest, most gracious men I know, and one of the most gifted political thinkers today. His ability to analyze issues and communicate thoughtful insights on them have earned him the respect of people across the political spectrum.
I am proud to have been Rod Martin’s friend for a quarter century, and I can tell you that he is one of the finest men and most outstanding leaders in our church and in our country today. He has a knack for turning everything he touches to success.
Rod Martin is a cornucopian entrepreneur and eutropic thinker whose influence radiates through an array of companies, institutions, movements and churches. A renaissance American, he is also a prolific friend of freedom and faith around the globe.
If Rod Martin represents the next generation of leaders, America has nothing to worry about.
A leader and a servant, in public life and in private, Rod Martin strides at the top of his profession, and has nowhere to go but up. He is in the truest sense of the word ‘outstanding’.
Rod Martin is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished thought leaders today. He is a wonderful mentor, a humble role model, and a deep inspiration for the next generation of scientific innovators and entrepreneurs.
Rod’s achievements pale beside his character and his brilliance. He sees what others can’t. He leads when others won’t.
Rod Martin is one of America’s finest young minds.
