By Tom Klocek

Recently a number of politically motivated business strategies have prompted boycotts of various stores and products. The two most well-known have been Anheuser-Busch and Target. Some people are saying that these boycotts won’t last, but for them to be effective it is important that they last. By sticking with the boycotts, people are once more finding their voices.

Mainstream voices have been squelched at the ballot boxes, with information damaging to certain candidates being hidden at election time; the expansion of mail-in ballots without sufficient checks for accuracy and legitimacy and many other dubious practices such as ballot harvesting and mass mailings of absentee ballots to voters whether they are requested or not; and even devious schemes such as the fake Russian collusion issue in 2016.

Activist judges have also squelched the voices of the people by creating laws or changing laws contrary to their meaning or implementation rather than ruling that legislation needs to address the issues under consideration. For example, Californians voted to ban same-sex marriage in its constitution (this ban is still in place), yet the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages in 2015.

In the meantime, the LGBTQ+ community (~7% of the population, according to Gallup) has been flaunting its degrading and inappropriate behavior in the face of conservatives and people of faith. Recently, the LA Dodgers scheduled an event for one of their “Pride Month” celebrations featuring a group called the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. This vile and blatantly anti-Catholic (and anti-Christian) group, according to any definitions prevalent today, should be classified as a hate group, but instead the Dodgers wanted to celebrate them. Normal people were up in arms and protested, resulting in the Dodgers canceling the Sisters. Then the LGBTQ+ community whined loudly and the event is on again.

A number of Dodgers players have made statements objecting to their endorsement by the Dodgers organization, including future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw. So far, Dodgers management have not changed their minds to honor this hate group.

I gave up professional sports years ago thanks to the has-been Colin Kaepernick, a former pro quarterback who decided to kneel during the playing of the national anthem. My advice for all of the Christian players in Major League Baseball would be to refuse to play in any game involving the Dodgers. As for fans, I would refuse to watch any Dodgers games. Those numbers are important, as they determine ad revenue among other things.

By the way, there are some who say the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence do good charitable things, which makes them OK. Why do the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence get a pass while George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and even Abraham Lincoln are targeted for being associated with slavery, which they did not introduce and worked to tirelessly to end?

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) — the hallmark of woke policies — is infiltrating even some of the heretofore more conservative organizations such as Chick-fil-A. Looks like we’re going to be doing more home cooking in our house.

Changes are coming. Other organizations that are pushing pride clothing and such are experiencing pushback. Recently, Kohls joined the pride clothing line for kids group and has seen a drop in stock prices.

Victor Davis Hanson (VDH) asks, “Is the Conservative Sleeping Dragon Finally Waking Up?” He notes: “Sometimes traditionalists prefer simply to drop out rather than boycott wokeism. One result is that the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards now have a fraction of their previous televised audience.” However, they are now beginning to see the light. And they are beginning to see, as stated in John’s Gospel, “the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (3:19).

Beginning with school boards that refused to protect young girls against predator trans boys, people are beginning to see the evil behind the woke establishment. Rather than tolerance, the woke world demands celebration. People are beginning to realize that this tolerance has resulted in greater demand by these groups to accept, support, and further enable their destruction of the family, our freedoms, and society.

Recently, Megyn Kelly, a podcast host and formerly of Fox News, realized that following these demands of the transgender advocates was making her complicit in their practices, fantasies, and deceptions. She has come to recognize that it is a rhetorical trick and is actually harmful to women and children. More people need to recognize that being compassionate to sinners does not mean we condone their sin and the evil they are perpetrating.

Americans in general, especially conservatives, do not like having the LGBTQ+ agenda shoved down their throats. While they may be willing to tolerate it, they don’t believe in “celebrating” it. The nation is still majority Christian at 65%, and Christians know that “pride goeth before the fall.” Which brings up some interesting questions. Why is there a Pride Month for LGBTQ+ but only a Memorial Day for those who sacrificed for our nation? Same for Veterans Day. And there’s only one day for mothers and fathers.

As VDH has pointed out, one of the reasons we are where we are is because the silent majority has been silent for too long. But people are becoming aware. They have learned that they have been lied to and gaslighted, not just one or two times, but nearly continuously. And they are finding their voices, not just in the boycotts mentioned above, but in other venues as well.

In military circles, multiple organizations with primarily retired military personnel are coming to prominence, including STARRS, Calvert Group, and Flag Officers 4 America (FO4A). FO4A, a group of retired admirals and generals, have signed a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy expressing their concern over the adverse impact current DEI policies are having on our military. In the civilian world, parents’ groups such as Parents Defending Education and Turning Point USA are bringing the battle to schools and school boards. If VDH is correct, these groups will increase and grow in number. Staying firm on boycotts will help get the message across. The time to act is now. Join or support those groups that are standing up for traditional and time-tested American values.