Follow the logic where it leads, from protests to purges to pitchforks:
‘Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich resigned under pressure after gay rights activists demanded that he step down or recant his support of traditional marriage laws.
Eich donated $1,000 to support Proposition 8, the California ballot initiative that amended the state’s constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman.
“I don’t want to talk about my personal beliefs because I kept them out of Mozilla all these 15 years we’ve been going,” Eich told The Guardian. “I don’t believe they’re relevant.”
That wasn’t an option. “CEO Brendan Eich should make an unequivocal statement of support for marriage equality,” a Credoaction petition signed by almost 75,000 people said, per The Inquirer. “If he cannot, he should resign. And if he will not, the board should fire him immediately.”
This man held the wrong ideas and beliefs in his personal life!
Surely, this kind of deeply intolerant and illiberal witch hunt activism should be recognized for what it is in more mainstream publications?
William Saletan at Slate ‘Purge The Bigots‘ (addition: which I’ve been assured is satire, and if so, I fell for it):
‘Some of my colleagues are celebrating. They call Eich a bigot who got what he deserved. I agree. But let’s not stop here. If we’re serious about enforcing the new standard, thousands of other employees who donated to the same anti-gay ballot measure must be punished.’
Another addition: The last paragraph kind of gives it away:
If we’re serious about taking down corporate officers who supported Proposition 8, and boycotting employers who promote them, we’d better get cracking on the rest of the list. Otherwise, perhaps we should put down the pitchforks.
I think some people were expecting to just rest liberalism atop 60’s protest politics and Civil Rights/social justice activism while entrusting it our liberties.
That doesn’t sound like a good idea.
Peter Berkowitz quote on Leo Strauss here.
“As Strauss understood it, the principle of liberal democracy in the natural freedom and equality of all human beings, and the bond of liberal society is a universal morality that links human beings regardless of religion. Liberalism understands religion to be a primary source of divisiveness in society, but it also regards liberty of religious worship to be a fundamental expression of the autonomy of the individual. To safeguard religion and to safeguard society from conflicts over religion, liberalism pushes religion to the private sphere where it is protected by law. The liberal state also strictly prohibits public laws that discriminate on the basis of religion. What the liberal state cannot do without ceasing to be liberal is to use the law to root out and entirely eliminate discrimination, religious and otherwise, on the part of private individuals and groups.”
Related On This Site: Greg Lukianoff At FIRE.Org: ‘Emily Bazelon And The Danger Of Bringing “Anti-Bullying” Laws To Campus’
From Volokh: ‘Conservatives, Libertarians, and Civil Rights History’…Libertarianism In The Mainstream?: Rand Paul In The Spotlight…Thomas Sowell archives here.
William Saletan and Ross Douthat At Slate: ‘Liberalism Is Stuck Halfway Between Heaven And Earth’