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Saturday, September 7, 2013

Christian Bakery, closed by Oregon (In)Equality Law, resists the Mark of the Beast


By Susan Fox
“But when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.” (Mark 13:14)


Well lately I thought I caught a glimpse of it parked outside my house, a huge Abomination of Desolation looking like a giant pink Cadillac.


Have you seen it? There I was -- a placid American --thinking nothing could harm me because we have not been invaded since 9/11 and Pearl Harbor.

Barack Obama was elected, and I thought I’ll just shut off the news for four years… well make that eight years now, and then we’ll go back to a prosperous peaceful life.

But then Aaron and Melissa Klein lost their wedding bakery, Sweet Cakes By Melissa. They and their five home-schooled children lost their livelihood because they refused to put a same-sex couple on a wedding cake. They face thousands of dollars in fines if the Oregon State Bureau of Labor and Industries find them guilty of violating the Oregon “Equality” Act.

Elaine and Jonathan Huguenin, Christian photographers, who declined to photograph a same-sex commitment ceremony in Taos, NM, lost their livelihood and thousands of dollars in fines when the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled last month that the owners of Elane Photography were compelled by law to compromise their religious beliefs.

Being a Catholic, we’ve already seen the devastation caused by the politically correct atheistic liberal movement. They shut out the Catholic Church from adoptions in Boston because we couldn’t in good conscience allow gays to adopt children. Not many realize it, but the survival of the Catholic hospital in the United States is now in jeopardy because we cannot offer birth control, abortion services or pay for such for hospital employees – and this last is mandated by Obama “Care” with very limited exceptions.

The Christian Company Hobby Lobby is fighting for its life because it does not want to offer abortion services for its employees. It violates their religious beliefs. My husband said if we were writing this blog in Canada or the United Kingdom, we would be prosecuted for our free speech.

Obama “Care” mandates that those on Social Security will be required to attend an “end-of-life planning” seminar every five years (i.e. Death Counseling). It’s in the bill page 425, line 4-12. And who could forget p. 419, line 13-25: “The government will specify which doctors can write an end of life order” That’s how they plan to cut health care costs?

The Abomination of Desolation is a term coined in the Book of Daniel – it means an idol or a sacrilege in the temple usually accompanied by a large number of deaths, especially of the people resisting the abomination – the religious ones. Daniel’s prophesy was fulfilled when King Antiochus IV in 167 B.C. entered the Temple in Jerusalem and erected statues of false gods on the altar of holocausts. The idol was a sign of “abomination” (idolatry) and desolation. Antiochus’s actions
represented a type of desolating abomination as he forced the Jews to abandon their religious beliefs, and profaned their temple.  These religious injustices were accompanied by the murder of 80,000 Jews, including women and children, and the same number were sold into slavery.

Jesus referred to a similar future event when he said, “So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the Prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand). Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” (Matt 24:15)  And as He carried his cross to Calvary, he met a large crowd of people, and the women were weeping for Him. “But Jesus turning to them, said: Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over me; but weep for yourselves, and for your children.”

He referred to the coming Abomination of Desolation:  in less than 40 years after the death of Jesus Christ, Roman armies
surrounded Jerusalem. Pilgrims had come to the city from all over the world to celebrate Passover in 70 A.D. Contemporary Jewish historian Flavius Josephus estimated that 1.1 million people died during the Roman siege of Jerusalem.

But not the Christians! They fled to the mountains when they saw those Romans parked outside Jerusalem. “Run!” Jesus said. If you are on the housetop don’t go back for your belongings, and the guy working in the field should not return for his coat, but alas for those who are pregnant or nursing in those days. “Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath.”

But the Jews were overconfident in their city’s defenses and they stayed, so they were slaughtered, and the temple desecrated. Since 70 A.D. no Jew has ever worshipped in the Temple. That represents quite a change of plan. Jews from all over the world came every year to celebrate Passover in Jerusalem for thousands of years. Never since has that celebration taken place.

Of course, the desolating sacrilege has shown its face again many times in history. It is always accompanied by religious persecution and murder. Communist Russia and Nazi Germany are two examples. I have met Christians from Russia, who told me they were not allowed into an educated career because of their Christian beliefs. They had the best grades in high school, but they were not allowed to go to college, and they had to become farm workers.

My medical massage therapist is from the Ukraine, and her grandfather was a Communist soldier, so on the surface he had to pretend like he rejected Christianity, but he secretly baptized his whole family. That is definitely survival under the authority of a desolating sacrilege. What irony that today Russia is anti-gay marriage, and people in the United States, who are standing up to gay marriage are now losing their livelihood.

And in the United States, when I speak of the Church’s position on gay marriage, I hear, “Shut up!” “Keep your opinions to yourself!” And like Melissa Klein, I am accused – even by straight people – of being a bigoted homophobe.

This is a sign of the Beast. In order to engage in commerce under totalitarian regimes, the Christian must either accept the Mark of the Beast or lose his livelihood, even his life. That's what happened to the early Christians: either worship the emperor or stop working. Many chose death.

It seems we are living in just such beastly times. The Beast, and the second Beast appear in the Book of Revelation chapter 13. St. John introduces the first beast’s violent acts and blasphemous language to show that its power derives from Satan. Only those sealed with the Holy Spirit, who acknowledge and follow Christ, can avoid worshipping the Beast and retain their freedom of conscience.

The second beast is identified as a false prophet because he is exhorting the earth and all its inhabitants to worship the first beast. According to St. John, the second beast with two lamb horns and a dragon’s voice deceives the inhabitants of the earth, and forces all – free or slave, rich or poor -- to be marked on the right hand or forehead “so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.” (Rev. 13:17)

Melissa and Aaron Klein obviously didn’t have the right mark. Instead, they were sealed with the Holy Spirit. Their livelihood is threatened as a result.

“Basically, the beast is a symbol for regimes which reject God and put man on a pedestal. Nowadays emperor worship is seldom a problem but militant atheism has been a modern parallel whether in the form of atheistic secularism or of dialectic materialism. St. Hippolytus describes the mark and seal of the beast in these words: “I reject the Creator of heaven and earth; I reject Baptism; I refuse to worship God. To you (Beast) I adhere; in you I believe.” (Footnote from the Navarre Bible)

St. Gregory the Great, adds, “The beast that rises from the earth stands for pride in earthly glory; and the fact that it has two horns like a lamb means that its hypocritical sanctity makes it appear to have wisdom, whereas only the Lord has true wisdom.”

And so I read the comments of those boycotting Melissa’s bakery, and I was appalled to read Americans crowing in delight because a little family with five children from Gresham, Oregon had lost their livelihood, the bakery, “Sweet cakes by Melissa.”

“Your homophobic rants will not be forgotten and you will go out of business. This is the 21st century, a**holes.” And “maybe your god will send you some cat food to eat when you are living on the street?” Further, they rejoiced because it was “God’s will” the bakery be closed.

Can’t you hear the crowds taunting Jesus on the cross, “And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” (Matt 27: 39-40)

I do boycott big businesses in the hope of changing their behavior, but this crowd went after a family, which did nothing but stand up for their religious beliefs. And apparently the people of Gresham, Oregon, went along with it because Melissa said her wedding cake orders – on which her business depended -- were cancelled and no new ones were placed.

But why did Melissa Klein stand up to the Abomination of Desolation? Why did she risk her children’s livelihood and refuse the Mark of the Beast? Why did she give up a business she worked to build up over a number of years?

“I have lost something I worked really hard for … but I know that really doesn’t matter. My eternal home is what matters.” Melissa told TheBlaze in an interview. “It is so worth it just to sit back and watch how God provides for you. I struggled in the past with trust and even with my faith in Him. And through this (ordeal) my faith has grown, my trust has grown tremendously.”

“Suffering” says Pope John Paul II, “as it were contains a special call to the virtue which man must exercise on his own part. And this is the virtue of perseverance in bearing whatever disturbs and causes harm. In doing this, the individual unleashes hope, which maintains in him the conviction that suffering will not get the better of him, that it will not deprive him of his dignity as a human being.”

Or as St. Paul says, “I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2:20)



17 comments:

  1. "But then Aaron and Melissa Klein lost their wedding bakery, Sweet Cakes By Melissa. They and their five home-schooled children lost their livelihood because they refused to put a same-sex couple on a wedding cake."

    That's a foolhardy thing to do. There is nothing in their religion that required them to discriminate against gays. It's just a silly and costly thing to do with no redeeming value.

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  2. Dear Bill,
    They had to chose between God and Mammon. They chose God. That's always an excellent choice! God bless you. Susan Fox

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  3. Bill is right, you are wrong... Enjoy being a nutjob.

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  4. Interesting how the were ok with creating a "Baby Out of Wedlock" cake, a "Divorce Party" cake, a "Stem-Cell Success" cake and a "Pagan Solstice Party".. they gave price quotes and talked in detail to people about all these cakes that are against God as well. THEY WERE HAPPY TO MAKE ALL THOSE CAKES BUT *NOT* THE CAKE FOR THE GAY COUPLE. Kinda odd right? Seems picky right? Targeting gay people? You bet..

    So, explain that.. good luck

    Here is the link to prove this :

    http://www.examiner.com/article/controversial-cake-shop-may-see-new-protest

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  5. Anonymous, your argument is so intelligent! God bless you. Susan Fox

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  6. Dear John F, Is that you Gene Bridges? I saw these comments on the Boycott Melissa Facebook page. You can't hide from me. I went to the link that you gave me, and I found nothing there about them making cakes for these other things you mention. They did have alleged hate rants from the couple on a false Facebook page that the Kleins say they had nothing to do with. Apparently someone on the Boycott Melissa side created the false Facebook page for the Kleins. They probably fabricated the facts for the story you think is there about the other cakes they did. However, that link you gave me is vile. It shows the atheists are planning to destroy the Kleins by sending in a bunch of gay couples to ask for cakes, giving them $50,000 fines per person from the State of Oregon. It's a good thing they shut down the bakery. And it just proves my point. The Kleins do not have the Mark of the Beast, so the Beast is trying to destroy them. God bless you. Susan Fox I will add you to my prayer list.

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  7. John F or Gene,
    You gave me the wrong link, but I found the right one. This is the same atheist's news that plotted to destroy the Kleins by sending in multiple gay couples to buy cakes, upping the $50,000 fines against them by the number of gay couples turned away. However, I will treat it seriously. I know you get frustrated and feel like we are not listening to you. Making cakes for the purposes that you named are not necessarily sinful (except for the Pentagram), and probably what happened is a lower level employee answered the phone and just mindlessly started quoting prices to you. But there would be nothing wrong from a strictly Christian point of view. For instance on the unwed mother with a baby cake, a Christian would absolutely rejoice that someone had a baby whether it was out of wedlock or not. The mother could have had an abortion and she didn't, so we'd be dancing in the streets. A child would always be cause for rejoicing regardless of how he came into the world. The mother's lifestyle is her business. If she asked me for advice, I'd urge her to get married. If someone called and ordered a birthday cake for their gay lover, and had the dumbness to announce, "This is for my gay lover." I, as a Christian, would have no trouble baking and decorating such a thing. What would the cake say? "Happy Birthday John!" I can't object to that, can I? And what you are doing with John is your business! It's none of my business. If you wanted something pornographic, I -- as a Christian -- could not do that. But putting a same sex figurine on a cake is condoning gay marriage, and a Christian cannot do that.You need to separate yourself from gay marriage. You are not gay marriage. You are Gene. We are not rejecting Gene. We are rejecting gay marriage. It is completely separate from you. It is not hatred for you at all. We love you. We don't see you (assuming you are) as a gay person. You are a child of God, my brother. You may have faults, but so do I. The Bible actually lists gossip up there with homosexual acts, and who hasn't done that? But we personally cannot put a stamp of approval on a homosexual marriage, because homosexual marriage will destroy marriage. And if you want to know why that is, please read how gay marriage destroys marriage at

    http://christsfaithfulwitness.blogspot.com/2013/08/welcome-bill-v-gay-marriage.html
    God bless you. Susan Fox
    P.S. My prior remarks were made with the greatest degree of love because I recognized you! I was excited to see you here.

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  8. P.S. I couldn't do stem cell cakes either if the procedure is to create a new human life in a test tube and then kill it. But this is a very complicated issue for a bakery order taker to understand. There is adult stem cell research which is perfectly okay. Non Kosher Barbecue was just plain silly. We are not Jews. You didn't call a Jewish baker did you?

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  11. No, John and I are not the same person, Susan. I've read your paranoia though and found it as amusing as a Dave Armstrong rant. I will clue you in on which Gene Bridges I am. I am the Gene Bridges that once wrote for Triablogue. Go look me up. I work on a completely different level than you do, Madam. I don't get my eschatology from Rome. Nice bit of private interpretation you've got going on here, however. Seriously, that's a wonderful recipe for anarchy you've got brewing. It's also really amusing watching a faithful follower of Rome tell other people to separate from gay marriage, while her own communion is shuffling pedophile priests around the world on a regular basis. That's very consistent of you.

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  12. Larry and Susan, thank you for being Christ's Faitful Witnesses in this crazy world. It is a sad day indeed when innocent people are crucified for their beliefs. But that is what they did to Jesus and we cannot expect less. Why is this necessary? Is it impossible for us to live together without imposing our beliefs or lack thereof on our neighbours? I guess not! I am always saddened by individuals who label folks when they don't agree with their point of view. Homophobe, Islamaphobe, Racist, Zionist, Atheist, Christian, and now how about Heterophobe. Enough is enough already. There is much more that unites us than separates us, but the powers that be have decided that dissention among the groups helps get their hidden agenda through without us noticing. Blacks agains whites, Poor against Wealthy, Literates against Illiterates, Legals against Illegals, Workers against non-Workers, Unions against non-Unions and on and on the story goes. Let's stop criticizing one another and unite for a worthy and wholesome cause, saving our country. Let us look at the diversionary tactics of the leadership who have a vested interest in keeping us occupied with other unimportant matters while they impose unhealthy policies on all of us. Let us come together as only Americans can and show the world that Respect and Love of one another far outweigh anything that could possibly divide us. I pray the USA, a beautiful and magnificent country , the beacon of hope for the world , will wake up and see what is really happening. I also pray for those crucified for their beliefs by ridiculous equalitarian laws and lawmakers, that their courage and tenacity will support and enlighten them during these trying times. God is among us and sees and hears the cries of the poor. May God bless you all. Louise

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  13. Thank you Louise. May God bless you. Susan Fox

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  14. Dear Gene Bridges,
    We are shuffling them out the door. God bless you. Susan Fox

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  15. Dear Sits With Deer,
    Welcome, I have them on my prayer list, and where two or three are gathered in my name . .. God bless you. Susan Fox

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  16. Anonymous very kindly left this comment, but I had to edit out the bad language. This is a shortened form of the comment:

    "what happen to the right to refuse service?"

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  17. Dear Anonymous, Thank you for your confidence that I am not a nut job. Could you please clarify your comment. I couldn't understand the middle part, and then I will be able to consider it for publication. God bless you. Susan Fox

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