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Former televangelist attacks Florida bakery to make a point about religious freedom

Former televangelist attacks Florida bakery to make a point about religious freedom
Cut the Cake bakery in Longwood, Fla.
Cut the Cake bakery in Longwood, Fla.

A Florida bakery is turning the tables on an Arizona evangelist who posted an online video attacking the bakery when it refused to provide a cake decorated with the words “‘We do not support gay marriage.”

Joshua Feuerstein called the Cut the Cake bakery in Longwood, Fla., on April 1, telling its owner, Sharon Haller, that he needs “a sheet cake, and we need it to say, ‘We do not support gay marriage.'”

At first, Haller thought the call was an April Fool’s joke, asking “Is this a crank call?” … “No, we wouldn’t do that. Sorry.” And then she hung up.

Feuerstein recorded the conversation and posted it on his YouTube channel, promoting his supporters to barrage the bakery with phone calls and Facebook messages containing insults, threats and accusations of being anti-Christian.

“People (are) telling us that we need to kill ourselves and all kinds of stuff, and we’re just afraid for our business and our safety,” said Haller.

Feuerstein took down the video a few hours later, but Haller’s daughter, Cyndol Knarr, who works at the bakery, put the video back online after the wave of criticism turned into support.

Here’s Feuerstein, in all his Christian glory:

The Orlando Sentinel reports the video could violate a Florida law that requires consent of all parties to record a telephone conversation, according to Andrea Flynn Mogensen, a Sarasota lawyer who specializes in civil-liberty cases.

The law applies even if the call was placed from outside Florida. Recording conversations without consent is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

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Feuerstein has a history of attacking atheists and gay-marriage proponents. According to his website, he is a former pastor in Fountain Hills, Ariz., and a “former television and radio evangelist who now uses social media to share his personal story of redemption and the hope of how Jesus Christ can heal a hurting heart!”

On Friday, the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies has determined that a Denver bakery did nothing wrong when it refused to write anti-gay messages on a cake.

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