Repeat after me: this is not a news story.

An Indiana pizzeria is the center of a firestorm today after the owner told the reporter that, although gays would be welcome in their restaurant, they would not cater a gay wedding.

Twitter blew up, including one tweet from a now former high school coach that suggested people burn the business to the ground.  The threats got so bad that the owners closed the restaurant, and it's iffy whether they will open it again.

There's only one problem for the anti-religious bigots: the pizzeria has never catered a wedding of any kind – which isn't surprising at all.

Scott Ott tells the story at PJ Media:

You see, not only did ABC-57 manufacture the story with an ambush interview, it then doubled-down by making the reaction to the story into another story to give the sense of momentum, as if it were growing at its own impetus. Yet, everything about it is a fabrication.

Memories Pizza didn’t “publicly vow to reject gay weddings” as HuffPo says it. The O’Connors were just, quite literally, minding their own business.

Back in the ABC-57 studio, Rosie Woods read three negative social media comments attacking the pizza shop owners, and then said, “And that’s just one side of this debate that’s heating up as more people and business owners speak up about the law.”

She then quotes one (1) person, the owner of another business, who agreed with the O’Connors. Seems that “just one side of this debate” deserves more attention than the other.

[...]

Meanwhile, over at Yelp.com, more than a thousand “reviews” of Memories Pizza rapidly accumulated, quickly overwhelming the positive comments from actual customers who like the pizza, the hospitality and the small-town charm. Folks who never heard of Walkerton attacked Crystal O’Connor’s business, her morality and her Lord. Many of the remarks included racially charged descriptions of genitalia and sex acts. “Reviewers” also posted pictures of naked men, of Adolf Hitler shouting “Ich habe ein pizza” (I have a pizza), and of Jesus gesturing with his middle finger. Over on Facebook, the restaurant’s 5-star average rating rapidly plunged to one star, as non-customers slammed away at Crystal’s little business.

Watch as some gay couple try to get Memories Pizza to cater their wedding and then sue when refused.  They would no more want pizza at their wedding reception than mac and cheese, but they would achieve fame and glory, as well as enrich themselves from "damages."

To date, no business in the U.S. that has refused to provide their services at a gay wedding has won in court when challenged, even in states with strong religious freedom laws.  The burden of proof that denying service to gays "substantially burdens" (the Indiana standard) their faith is just too high.  That's why this entire inflated outrage is so ridiculous.  If Indiana businesses choose not to cater to gay weddings, they will likely be sued and probably lose in court.

This is a non-story that has whipped people into a frenzy over absolutely nothing.