<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The U.S. Supreme Court has recently been tasked with determining—both metaphorically and literally—whether in matters of marriage equality and religious freedom, those within society can have their cake and eat it too. This came to the fore in Masterpiece Cakeshop (2018). In most of scholarship which has followed, the respective parties’ rights in this case are parsed in terms of rights to religious expression and free speech (on the one hand), and a statutory right to non-discrimination (on the other). By approaching this matter through a primarily philosophical (rather than legal) lens, I aim to present a new perspective. Where cases involve same-sex marriage, it is argued that both sides are predicated upon religious or conscientious convictions. This is established through a philosophical argument, which examines the nature of the marital promise to love and seeks to demonstrate how this promise entails a characteristically religious sort of belief.</p>
</abstract>

The U.S. Supreme Court has recently been tasked with determining—both metaphorically and literally—whether in matters of marriage equality and religious freedom, those within society can have their cake and eat it too. This came to the fore in Masterpiece Cakeshop (2018). In most of scholarship which has followed, the respective parties’ rights in this case are parsed in terms of rights to religious expression and free speech (on the one hand), and a statutory right to non-discrimination (on the other). By approaching this matter through a primarily philosophical (rather than legal) lens, I aim to present a new perspective. Where cases involve same-sex marriage, it is argued that both sides are predicated upon religious or conscientious convictions. This is established through a philosophical argument, which examines the nature of the marital promise to love and seeks to demonstrate how this promise entails a characteristically religious sort of belief.

Marital Cakes and Conscientious Promises

British Journal of American Legal Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Marital Cakes and Conscientious Promises"}

The U.S. Supreme Court has recently been tasked with determining—both metaphorically and literally—whether in matters of marriage equality and religious...

Marital Cakes and Conscientious Promises

Published Online: Apr 17, 2021

Page range: 201 - 216

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bjals-2021-0004

Keywords
Masterpiece Cakeshop, Religious Freedom, Marital Love Promises, Conscientious Beliefs, Moral Anthropology

© 2021 G. P. Marcar, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Marital Cakes and Conscientious Promises

Published Online: Apr 17, 2021

Page range: 201 - 216

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bjals-2021-0004

KeywordsMasterpiece Cakeshop, Religious Freedom, Marital Love Promises, Conscientious Beliefs, Moral Anthropology

© 2021 G. P. Marcar, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Masterpiece Cakeshop, Religious Freedom, Marital Love Promises, Conscientious Beliefs, Moral Anthropology