A better way to defeat Mississippi’s anti-gay wedding law

There are business owners in Mississippi who believe that if they provide cake or flowers to a gay couple &#8212 they risk going to hell. And yet if they refuse, they risk being hauled into court.

Related: Gov. Inslee joins Seattle mayor’s ban on official travel to Mississippi

So in July, a new law takes effect in Mississippi. It states if business owners sincerely believe &#8212 as a matter of religious faith &#8212 that sex should be reserved for marriage, and that marriage is the union of a biological man and woman, they don’t have to sell cake, flowers, or jewelry to gay couples. They also don’t have to take their pictures, or be their DJ, or write them a poem &#8212 these are all specifically mentioned in the law. The state will not punish them in any way for their refusal.

Not only can they refuse gay couples, the law says they can also refuse heterosexual couples who have had sex outside of marriage &#8212 yet still expect to buy cake.

I know a lot of people want to boycott Mississippi over this. But consider this for a moment: Did boycotting Cuba change Cuba? No.

Opening up Cuba is what’s going to change Cuba. So instead of boycotting Mississippi, suppose gay people move there en masse? Colonize it? Introduce Western culture!

In fact, the state may already be changing. CBS’s Mark Strassman talked to Mitchell Moore, the owner of Campbell’s Bakery in Jackson.

“A gay couple comes in to your bakery and wants a wedding cake &#8212 I sell them a wedding cake. It’s what I do,” Moore said.

And yes, Moore is a Christian.

“But I don’t think Christianity tells me that I have to discriminate against people. In fact, I am here to serve people &#8212 not to turn them away.”

I think if more Mississippi businesses found themselves with a growing gay clientele, God might re-think the eternal damnation thing.