The piece begins by describing the seeming overnight success of Chip and Joanna Gaines, the husband-and-wife team whose chemistry on screen has made the series “Fixer Upper” is one of the most popular shows on HGTV. But it is no puff piece. After time spent describing all that is right with the show, the author quickly pounces upon the religious beliefs of the Gaineses without at all mentioning what they believe. Instead, their great sin is that they go to an evangelical church whose pastors oppose same-sex marriage!
A while ago I got the same kind of hit by a gay activist and his organization targeting this blog for being anti-gay. Here my greatest sin was in not disowning some of the comments placed by others in which is an unmoderated conversation after my posts. I received mail and my congregation recceived mail threatening to expose my "hate" speech. That I oppose same sex marriage is hardly a secret to anyone who reads this blog. That I do so not to discriminate -- in the traditional sense of that term -- but because I stand with the unbroken Judeo-Christian morality in this (still officially espcoused by at least two-thirds of all Christianity) is sometimes lost in the debate. Yet the mere fact that someone opposes what is by all accounts a radically new idea that has only recently garnered much public support is grounds for a charge that seeks to either get them kicked off the air (in the case of the Gaineses) or discredit their integrity (for my blog).
This is the ultimate demagoguery. Because you oppose gay marriage, you are a homophobe, you are unworthy of being in the public square, and you must be punished for holding to such shocking views! At least in the case of the Gainses, we don't even know where they stand personally on the issue and nothing on their show presumes any discrimination as appears to be charged against them (though we ought to be able to presume of them,, with all church members, that they stand with their church (at least until they tells us otherwise). Yet the shocking this here is how quickly something that was considered a radical fringe idea has now become the litmus test of anyone's right to be the public eye or to raise their voice in the public square.
The folks the likes of those at BuzzFeed and all the PC police are shrewd: They know that the Gaineses and HGTV will be forced to make a public statement in support of the GLBTQ agenda or the network will take the show off the air. In the same way, this pressure is being used to force churches to comply with the socially acceptable positions on same sex marriage of they will also be forced into silence in the public square (after all the only freedom of religion that cannot be impeded is what goes on behind closed doors on Sunday morning). If the PC police in the media can forsake their role of actual objective reporting and become advocates for a position, then they can use all the tools in their arsenal to make sure that only those who comply have a place and a voice and those who do not are shammed into silence. So great is the power we have given to those who will decide what speech is tolerated, what positions are moral, and what rights belong to those who disagree!
Once again we find ourselves facing the intolerance tolerance and this is one of the most dangerous threats to freedom of speech that has yet been faced by Americans. How we handle this will determine whether free speech is a right or a privilege, whether unpopular ideas are allowed to stand with the popular, and whether religious speech, in particular, is allowed the right to disagree with the politically correct views of media, minority, or, even, majority.
The bullies must, on principle, be consistently and openly resisted. These modern day Ernst Rohms will not be content until everyone affirms the evil they advocate.
ReplyDeleteAs I am 72 years old this month, I can recall my college days in 1964-65, then dropping out to join the USMC, and returning to complete my BA after completion of a 4 year tour of duty. The PC issue was alive and well even then. I was conservative in my views, but many professors were almost as bad as the intolerant liberals of today. The winds of social thinking are always changing. I have held on to my views from my youth, tempered by life experiences, but largely intact. Marriage between one man and one woman, pro-life, and homosexuality is still sin. Times may change, but one should hold on to your convictions.
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