This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Leftists were fine with the agenda by the state of Colorado to force a Christian baker who declined to violate his faith by promoting same-sex marriage to undergo a training program on the leftist state's "rights" agenda.
But they've exploded at an order from a judge that three of their lawyers learn about religious rights.
The situation has been profiled by columnist Nicole Russell in The Daily Signal.
The fuse came in a ruling this week from a federal judge in Texas deciding a case involving religious discrimination by Southwest Airlines.
A flight attendant had sued the airline successfully for religious discrimination, being awarded $800,000 plus reinstatement.
Then U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr said another issue should be addressed, and told the three lawyers for the airline to take eight hours of such training by Aug. 28.
"[T]he Court concludes that training on religious freedom for three lawyers at Southwest the Court finds responsible (Kerrie Forbes, Kevin Minchey, and Chris Maberry) is the least restrictive means of achieving compliance with the Court’s order," the judge said.
"The Alliance Defending Freedom ('ADF') has conducted such training in the past, and the Court deems that appropriate here."
The column noted that Chris Geidner, in a Substack item called "Law Dork," lashed out at the judge.
"ADF is not an unbiased, educational institution — nor does it pretend to be. The only relevant 'training' its website discusses in the training section is a 'Legal Academy' connecting 'like-minded attorneys' in an effort to show lawyers how 'to effectively advocate for religious liberty, free speech, the sanctity of life, and marriage and family.'"
A Salon headline inaccurately called ADF a "Christian hate group."
And at Slate, Mark Joseph Stern said the instruction was "frightening."
"If upheld, Trump Judge Brantley Starr’s order would let courts force lawyers to undergo religious indoctrination sessions from an extremist group that may well contradict their own deeply held spiritual beliefs and freedom of speech. This cannot possibly be legal."
The commentary cited the left's "double standard" and noted that the ADF has, in fact, won 15 cases at the Supreme Court on these very issues.
The column noted: "Those objecting to Starr’s order to Southwest might recall, for example, Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, in Lakewood, Colorado, who refused to make a custom-ordered wedding cake for a gay couple. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission ordered Phillips to be given 'comprehensive training' on Colorado’s anti-discrimination laws."
He, of course, later won his fight at the Supreme Court, which scolded the state of Colorado for its open "hostility" to Christianity.
