David Limbaugh
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
A&E's suspension of Phil Robertson for expressing his
politically incorrect, Bible-based opinion on homosexual behavior has turned
out to be a blessing in disguise and serves as an object lesson for Christian
and other social conservatives, as well as other lovers of liberty.
The politically correct left has built a culture and
network of intimidation against all who refuse to accept their views and
especially those who are vocal in standing their ground.
Among the encouraging lessons from this brouhaha are that
people are waking up to the tyranny of uncompromising leftist groups and
realizing that they don't have to cower before them and cave to their bullying
demands. We're seeing that courageous individuals, secure in their beliefs, can
make a difference and by speaking out motivate like-minded people to stand up
and fight back.
Conservatives are recognizing that they don't have to sit
back and continue to be victims of the left's domestic economic sanctions, that
sometimes it's necessary to fight fire with fire by reciprocating with economic
sanctions or support of their own.
The Cracker Barrel restaurant chain learned this lesson
the hard way. It announced it would stop selling certain "Duck
Dynasty" merchandise because of Robertson's statements. The backlash from
its customers via social media was immediate and so overwhelming that it issued
an apology and reversed its decision, which teaches us another lesson. While
the conventional wisdom is that the left owns social media, the reality is that
people, including millions of conservatives and Christians, own social media
and can use it to combat the left's tyranny and otherwise engage in the culture
war.
A similar phenomenon occurred in reverse when customers
of Chick-fil-A flocked to its restaurants throughout America to support the
chain when CEO Dan Cathy came under attack for saying he supports traditional
marriage. The mayors of Chicago and Boston lambasted the company, and D.C.'s
mayor said it was peddling "hate chicken."
People who want to mind their own business are finally
grasping that certain militant leftists, especially gay activists, won't let
them. They don't want to live and let live; they don't just want equal rights
and respect. They want to stamp out opposing viewpoints and suppress the
liberties of those who disagree.
Robertson and Cathy are not the first to be demonized.
Some who worked on the Prop 8 ballot initiative in California were told they
would be vilified as anti-gay and would never work again. That's right: If you
express your support for traditional marriage, the militant gay movement
slanders you as "anti-gay." They can't win in the marketplace of ideas,
so they have to take out their opponents -- assaulting their character and
reputation and destroying their credibility and courage to fight back.
These bullies are threatening lawsuits against churches
that refuse to perform same-sex weddings. They are forcing the normalization of
the homosexual lifestyle into our public schools via Common Core. They have
sued a baker for refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. They sued to
compel a Christian photographer to take pictures at a same-sex ceremony.
People are also witnessing the militant gay lobby engage
in calculated deception in its quest to impose its views and suppress the
opposition. This deception is primarily found in the deliberate distortion of
terms, such as "anti-gay," "hate,"
"discrimination," "bigot," "homophobe,"
"bullying" and "intolerance."
To oppose same-sex marriage or even to subscribe to the
Biblical declaration that homosexual behavior is sinful is in no way anti-gay
or hateful. Most people who oppose same-sex marriage have good will toward
homosexuals but don't want society to be forced to alter the thousands-year-old
understanding of marriage. They want to preserve their constitutional freedoms
of expression and religion to believe and state their opinions even if they
offend certain people.
On the other hand, an abundance of hatred flows from many
militant activists toward those who disagree with them, and especially those
who actively oppose them.
Phil Robertson voiced his opinion about homosexual
behavior. In doing so, he and others like him neither discriminate nor advocate
discrimination against homosexuals in any way.
Those who oppose these practices are not bigots; they do
not seek to mistreat homosexuals. Even those who believe the behavior is sinful
are not being hypocritical if they admit their own sinful behavior, as well.
They aren't advocating that society impose punitive sanctions against
homosexuals. Nor are they homophobes, meaning they fear homosexuals. That's
outright absurd -- period. But this has not prevented the term from insinuating
itself into the common cultural vernacular.
Bullying and intolerance? Here again the accusers are
projecting. They have demonstrated they will not countenance opposing
viewpoints and will seek to bully, intimidate and suppress the liberty of those
who wish to express them.
All in all, freedom lovers should be invigorated with
these developments. They are waking a sleeping giant: those Americans who did
in fact want to live and let live but who are now realizing that sitting out
the culture wars they didn't start is not an option.
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