Once the left embraced behavior and sexuality as a civil right, and did so with the full backing of our corrupt media, it was the beginning of the end for the most vital element of American life, that unwritten social compact that so beautifully nutshells the Constitution — the idea of “Live and Let Live.”

For 200-plus years, the idea of live and let live helped to make America the freest nation on earth. Laws were not required to enforce this concept, because we were all raised right – taught that I may not agree with what you do or say, but as long as it doesn’t interfere with my right to do and say, I’ll defend your rights.

This is why no one would demand a Jewish deli cater a pork eating contest, a mosque to rent their hall to a bikini contest, a printing company owned by gay men design a flier protesting same-sex marriage, or a left-wing screenwriter pen a hagiography about Ronald Reagan.

We don’t do these things to each other in this country. We respect each other’s beliefs, even if we believe they are foolish or wrong-headed. The idea of forcing someone to do something that violated their religious, moral, or political contest was inconceivable…

Until now.

Although, going back to the early ’90s, I have believed committed same-sex couples deserve all the same rights as married couples, I also knew same-sex marriage was the camel nose in the tent when it came to the persecution of Christians — and I do mean Christians, because you do not see left-wing activists or the media attacking the Muslim faith over its position on homosexuality.

Case in point, Masterpiece Cake Shop, whose owner, cake artist Jack Phillips, is not only being serially-harassed and persecuted by left-wing activists, but by his own government, the state of Colorado.

And now, even after everything this man has been put through over the last six years, even after winning a Supreme Court case with a 7-2 vote, he is back in court for refusing to design a cake … this time, one that celebrates trangenderism.

If you recall, back in 2012, Phillips refused to design a cake celebrating the marriage of two men. Phillips was more than happy to serve the men. He offered to sell them any cake in the store, including a wedding cake. But just as a movie director-for-hire or writer-for-hire, just as a Oliver Stone, Seth MacFarlane, or Barbra Streisand would never lend their artistic talents to art that violated their conscience, Phillips declined to use his artistry for the same reason.

But rather than respect the social compact, rather than be good Americans in the spirit of live and let live, this same sex couple sought to destroy Phillips and his business. Even after they received a wedding cake from another baker, the two men filed a complaint against Phillips with the state, and what followed was something right out of Orwell’s 1984.

The laughably-named Colorado Civil Rights Commission ordered Masterpiece Cake Shop to start making same-sex cakes and “to change its company policies, provide ‘comprehensive staff training’ regarding public accommodations discrimination, and provide quarterly reports for the next two years regarding steps it has taken to come into compliance and whether it has turned away any prospective customers.”

Now, keep in mind that the issue here is not serving gay couples — which Phillips was happy to do — the issue here is whether or not an American can be forced by the state to create art that violates his religious conscience.

Let me again make this is as clear as possible… This is the government forcing an artist to make art. Forget about cake baking. Imagine the government forcing a devout Muslim cinematographer to shoot a porn film, a black portrait painter to paint David Duke, a gay t-shirt designer to design a t-shirt that declares homosexuality a sin…

But the above would never happen in Colorado, or anywhere else, because this is about persecuting and bullying only one group of people — traditional Christians, which is why, almost exactly a year ago, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of Masterpiece Cake based on the anti-Christian bigotry of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission.

But because the fascist left never quits, Jack Phillips is back in court for the exact same reason, but only after being further tormented by the left.

All along, left-wing activists have been gunning to find a way to put Masterpiece Cake Shop out of business, if not through the courts, then through legal expenses and harassment.

“I’m thinking a three-tiered white cake. Cheesecake frosting,” one customer demanded of Phillips. “And the topper should be a large figure of Satan, licking a 9” black Dildo. I would like the dildo to be an actual working model, that can be turned on before we unveil the cake.”

And now, in what Phillips’ lawyers are correctly describing as an “obvious setup,” a Denver attorney demanded Phillips use his artistic talents to design “a cake last year that was blue on the outside … to celebrate her transition from male to female.”

Here’s the kicker… “She asked for the cake on the same day the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would consider Phillips’ appeal of the previous commission ruling against him.”

Naturally, Scardina filed a complaint against Phillips and a “judge said he was inclined to let the case move forward and would issue a written ruling later.”

So once again, the fascist state has Phillips in its clutches.

Keep in mind that this is not just about destroying one man, it is about intimidating and terrorizing all Christians. It is also about destroying the social fabric of America — the joyous freedom we all enjoy in a live and let live world.

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.