It should by now be apparent to everyone that there is an all-out assault by leftist political forces to crush free speech in America; not to argue passionately in favor of their positions, not to declare their opponents’ arguments faulty, but to deny their political enemies the ability to speak at all, and to bully and vilify and make a public example for others who may think of speaking up.

Perhaps the most high profile example in recent weeks was the forced resignation of Mozilla co-founder and newly promoted CEO Brendan Eich. Eich’s offense? Six years ago he donated $1,000 to support California’s Prop 8, which declared marriage as being between one man and one woman. His elevation to CEO caused a backlash among pro-gay marriage stakeholders, who threatened to boycott the company if Eich remained, despite the fact that no one at Mozilla can point to a single incident where he treated a homosexual employee with unfairness or disrespect. After releasing a statement saying, “Mozilla believes both in equality and freedom of speech,” the company showed that they believe in neither, and forced Eich to resign.

Bill Maher, a very abrasive, acerbic comedian with whom I rarely agree, hit the nail head on when he declared, “I think there is a gay mafia. I think if you cross them, you do get whacked.” Eich got whacked for holding the exact same position that Barack Obama held only two years ago. Previously, Obama said, “I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. Now, for me as a Christian – for me – for me as a Christian, it is also a sacred union. God’s in the mix.” Of course, that was before God took a back seat to the political winds that forced him to change positions.

Eich has not been the only victim of this rabid attempt to suppress traditional religious viewpoints. The Mormon Church was a high-profile proponent of Prop 8, and as a result pro-gay activists picketed and sometimes vandalized the grounds of Mormon temples, which are considered sacred ground by its members. Prop 8 supporters were attacked and called purveyors of “hate” for holding traditionalist views, with one notable exception … black voters in California voted 70% in favor of Prop 8, yet received almost no backlash from the pro-gay community. Odd indeed.

Other targets of the “Gay Mafia” include Elane Huguenin, a photographer in New Mexico who politely declined to photograph a lesbian wedding ceremony, and was promptly sued, and eventually forced by the courts to provide the service. It also includes Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of an Oregon bakery who declined to provide a cake for a same-sex wedding, after which they were picketed, attacked, and hounded by pro-gay activists until they were forced to close their bakery. It includes the owners of the Wildflower Inn in Vermont, who declined to host a homosexual wedding reception, were fined $30,000 and forced to close their wedding reception business. It includes Craig James (fired), Jennifer Keeton, and Gillian John-Charles, who were kicked out of college programs for politically incorrect views on homosexuality. Likewise, Stanford University initially defunded a seminar entitled “Communicating Values: Marriage, Family, and the Media,” which sought to facilitate a civil discussion on the opposing views of marriage and family, and told the group it must pay $5600 for event security or cancel it, essentially levying a free speech tax. After the story went public there was a backlash, and the university reversed its decision. Stanford’s initial justification was that some would “feel threatened” by being exposed to the thoughts of the diminutive and mild-mannered Ryan Anderson. If that is the case, it doesn’t speak well of the ability of leftists to cope in the big, scary world of ideas.

In none of these cases were those accused of hate and discrimination seeking to deny the ability of homosexuals to contract for these services, and in many cases those declining to provide the service referred the homosexuals to other businesses that would. Yet that was not enough for those that seek not “equality,” but absolute submission by those holding traditional values. No, they can not be allowed to disagree; they must be bullied into submission. They must be metaphorically hung in the public square from the gallows of political correctness as an example to all others.

In California, the CA Supreme Court Advisory Committee on the Code of Judicial Ethics recently recommended that any judge who has ever been affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America be banned from ever serving in the state. Why? Because even though the BSA changed its policy last year to allow homosexual scouts, it still prohibits homosexual scout leaders. Get that? Affiliation with the BSA, an organization that for more than 100 years has worked to instill in young boys wholesome values, which makes them pledge to be “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent,” is now considered so hateful, so subversive, that affiliation with them at any time in the past is enough to end a judge’s career, or disqualify one from being a judge.

Again, this is just the latest salvo by the left in an escalating culture war which seeks to ban conservative thought and speech on a wide variety of issues important to our nation. It’s not just the issue of marriage, but of what constitutes free speech, the proper role of government, taxes and budgets, welfare programs, global warming, regulations, etc.

Congressman and former vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan (R-WI) was crucified by the left recently for his comments that “there is a tailspin of culture in our inner cities, of men not even thinking about working or learning the value or culture of work.” Liberals declared Ryan a heartless racist, a charge exposed as a vicious, slanderous lie in a recent WSJ journal interview with black conservative Robert L. Woodson Sr., head of the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise. Woodson reveals that, with no media or fanfare, he has now taken Rep. Ryan on a dozen trips to “high-crime, drug-infested neighborhoods” to get a first-hand look at the problems of poor minorities, and to see what is and is not working to help them escape their plight.

Of course, you will never hear a public denunciation for similar comments as Ryan’s by a man who once said, “I know black contractors who have gone out of business because their black workers were not prompt or had negative attitudes. I know black workers who take pride about going to work any hour they feel like it, taking the day off when they feel like it…Many leaders who are black and many white liberals will object to my discussing these things in public. But the decadence in the black community…is already in the headlines; the only question is what we should do about it.” Why no denunciations? Because those words were uttered by none other than Jesse Jackson, way back in 1976, before he became a multi-millionaire by peddling his racial grievance shtick and extorting huge sums from companies terrified of being accused of racism.

The forces of leftist orthodoxy will continue to demand complete compliance with their agenda, and they will seek to crush all dissent. They will do this through bullying, slanderous attacks, picketing, boycotts, and public shaming. They will use government force, like the IRS, which appears to have doubled down on their attacks on conservatives and conservative groups. One thing is certain; we can either stand up and fight back vigorously to protect our God-given, constitutionally-protected rights to free speech, freedom of religion (not just “worship”), and freedom of association, or we can roll over and play dead, in which case those rights will be gone in short order.