You Will Be Made to Care

With more and more frequency, Americans who thought they could sit out the shift in culture and who decided that it would not affect them are finding that they will be made to care. The American left is not willing to give people a pass. Silence will only get one so far.

Phil Robertson of "Duck Dynasty" shared his faith with GQ Magazine. In part, Robertson referenced the Bible's teachings on sin and homosexuality. Comparing homosexuals to drunks and terrorists was too much for gay rights activist. The outcry and hysterics from secular culture have been overwhelming. GLAAD, a gay rights group, declared that Robertson's views are not Christian. A&E suspended Robertson from his show, the future of which is in doubt.

After overwhelming and furious outrage from the 14 million or so fans of Duck Dynasty, the left shifted the narrative to Robertson's comments on the pre-Civl Rights era of Louisiana, but it was too late. It is clear the left is upset with Robertson's faith and what his faith, shared by more than a billion people worldwide, says about homosexual practice.

Historian Gertrude Himmelfarb once wrote, "What was once stigmatized as deviant behavior is now tolerated and even sanctioned; what was once regarded as abnormal has been normalized." Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia, earlier this year writing about the Catholic Church's position on abortion coverage in Obamacare, noted that Himmelfarb also pointed out, "As deviancy is normalized, so what was once normal becomes deviant. The kind of family that has been regarded for centuries as natural and moral -- the 'bourgeois' family as it is invidiously called -- is now seen as pathological."

We have arrived at that point in our culture.

The problem gay rights activists and the American secular left have with Phil Robertson is really a problem with the Bible itself. But they cannot say that. It is tough to fight a direct fight against scripture, so they instead try to drive good people from the public square. The only sin that comes with a lobbying group, gay rights activists want to silence dissent instead of confront the dissenting ideas. When George W. Bush was President, the American left said dissent was patriotic. Not now that they think themselves a dominant cultural force.

As disappointing as it was to see the left rally to silence Phil Robertson, it was also disappointing to see some prominent Christians on television and social media denounce Phil Robertson. These people, who never speak up on these issues, decided Robertson was hateful, crude, or distracting. At least Robertson spoke up. The quislings of Christianity are fine to toss Phil Robertson to the wolves to protect their own skin.

In Colorado, the state fined a baker who declined to bake a cake for a gay wedding. The baker, a Christian, offered cookies, said he would bake for a birthday, but his faith compelled him not to provide the cake. The gay couple went to the ACLU, which in turned filed a complaint with the state. The state demanded the baker either provide his services against the convictions of his faith or go out of business via punitive fines.

In New Mexico, a Christian photographer declined to perform photography work for a gay wedding. The gay couple filed a complaint, and the Christian again lost in court.

In New Jersey, the state's supreme court declared gay marriage constitutional. The legislature intended to codify it, but the legislation included exceptions for the religious. Gay rights activists asked the legislature to kill the legislation. The activists did not want to give religious dissidents legal protection.

Christians, Muslims and others who object to the world changing the definition of marriage, an institution they believe God himself created, will be given no choice by the left. They will not be able to sit on the sidelines. They will not be able to opt-out. They will be made to care.

Catholic writer G. K. Chesterton once commented, "Abolish God, and the Government becomes God." The left's god shows no mercy and no grace. You may wish to sit on the sidelines, but you too will be made to care.