OPINION:
For Christians and Jews last week, Holy Week was filled with reminders why their religious freedom is so important. All Americans should be shocked not just at what is happening to Christians abroad, but also by the increasing intolerance here at home for people of faith. A liberal political machine is rolling, and it seems to want to destroy anyone who thinks differently or dissents from the approved liberal narrative.
Yet, as liberals are finding out, there is a little thing called “the law of unintended consequences,” and for people of conscience everywhere, this is a good thing. The exposure of the malevolence and destruction of identity politics became undeniable, courtesy of liberal overreach concerning a small effort by the state of Indiana to protect people of faith from hostile political mobs.
As the absurdity of the liberal reaction to Indiana’s Religious Freedom bill began to unfold, Americans’ bemusement turned to shock as liberal gays and their enablers became nothing more than common bullies. We all watched as Indiana Gov. Mike Pence seemed genuinely surprised at the very predictable liberal reaction to a bill that might hinder the left’s agenda to target Christian-owned businesses for destruction.
At the time, I tweeted, “As a gay woman I’m appalled by GOP inability to defend religious freedom & disgusted by how liberal gays have turned into common bullies.”
Once the left’s cadre of gay bullies and their legacy media enablers tasted what they thought was success in recent years at smashing the notion that people of faith need protection from malevolent mobs, they became, well, a malevolent mob, wandering the countryside looking for Christians who might have survived the cultural putsch.
In the crosshairs was a small restaurant called Memories Pizza. In one of the more astounding examples of media malpractice, a local TV reporter went into the Christian, family-owned business looking for a story. Reason magazine explains, “And they did give her a story — but not the one she reported. Her initial headline was ’RFRA: First Michiana business to publicly deny same-sex service.’ … That headline implies two things that are false. The O’Connors had no intention of becoming the first Michiana business to do anything discriminatory with respect to gay people; they had merely answered a hypothetical question about what would happen if a gay couple asked them to cater a wedding. And the O’Connors had every intention of providing regular service to gay people — just not their weddings.”
Then the lives of the O’Connors changed. They became the latest target of the gay totalitarianism movement, liberal bullies who work to equate faith with bigotry. All the while, the only people under threat of losing their livelihoods are the Christian families under attack. The mob, you see, is intent on reinforcing the liberal new culture law called “Abandon your faith — or else.”
Americans don’t like bullies. This issue transcends faith, race, sexual preference and economic status. We are a romantic people; we like underdogs and those who succeed despite the odds. The “live and let live” sentiment is in our DNA. Yes, we expect fairness and as a nation continue to grow and change. But we become a better country not under the heel of a boot, but by expanding our sense of decency and inclusion.
Once Americans saw the punishment liberal bullies exacted on Memories Pizza, their reaction was swift. The O’Connor family announced it had to close the business because of threats, so a crowdfunding page was established for the family and its business. As of this writing, it has surpassed $700,000 in 48 hours.
It was moving to see, despite the disgusting nature of the attack on Christians by the liberal gay mob, that people of faith did not respond in kind. There was no call for hunting down and destroying the liberals determined to destroy those who were not conforming. Instead, the reaction was to do something positive — to support the family under attack.
The success of that effort not only helps the O’Connor family, but it also is sending a message to every liberal and gay person who thinks they have sole possession of the truth, and that fascist bullying of people will succeed. It will, in fact, fail and be actively rejected.
So don’t get excited, bullies. Christians turning the other cheek doesn’t mean they will be passive in the midst of persecution. It means they will act, as they have for millennia, exposing and defeating the malevolent among us.
• Tammy Bruce is a radio talk show host, author and Fox News contributor.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.