Injustice Anywhere

I am stunned.

It's an emotional response, because I'm an emotional person.  I can't quite comprehend the reality of the situation.

By a fluke, I checked out the "Bash Back" news blog this morning and discovered that the radical gay-rights terrorist group (if they want to dress and act the part, then I'll play along) attacked a local Mormon church on Sunday, scrawling their messages of hate and intolerance in the early morning:

The Mormons are an atrocious bunch and, well, it just felt amazing to f*** up their holy place, especially on an early Sunday morning with the snowflakes glistening in the street lamps.

I've read about Bash Back and their hateful actions against religious people of all stripes who support the institution of marriage, but that was all in California and some mid-western state.  This happened in Olympia, in the land of Evergreen College and happy live-and-let-live hippies.  Except, of course, the militant ones.

This is the same weekend someone -- no one has claimed responsibility at this point, but give the next William Ayers time -- set fire to Sarah Palin's church in Alaska, while a group of women were having a craft party and two children played inside.

I have such a hard time believing that this is even real.  The story on Palin's church is receiving some coverage, of course, and it should -- but there is no clear motive in that case yet. 

For the Mormon church, on the other hand, the motive is pretty freaking clear.  As they brag on their blog, Bash Back is sounding a call for more intolerance and "finding meaning in attacking systems of misery":

Around the world people are breaking away from their dreary slumber, rejecting the tediousness of their boring lives and finding meaning in attacking systems of misery. Let this be a call out for more actions, bigger ones, and bigger still. We want nothing from their world to stand, we want to create our own world, where everything is possible and everything is permitted. (emphasis mine)

This is hate speech.  It's a direct threat to this church, to the people of this church, and to their right to peacefully assemble and hold their sacred beliefs.  I may (and in fact, I do) disagree with the people who attend this church and their beliefs which were attacked -- but these rights are what our grandfathers fought and died for, and I'll be damned if I'm going to sit here and pretend I can ignore this attack on them because no one's threatening me or attacking my non-controversial church.  I cannot stand this, and I will not take this.

A group of religious leaders last week put an ad in The New York Times in response to the attacks on Mormon churches in the wake of Proposition 8.  It's part of the "No Mob Veto" campaign, and I encourage everyone who shares the view that religious liberty is a fundamental right to sign their name to the ad here:

We’re a disagreeable lot. We differ about a great many important things. Most, but not all of us, are religious believers. We likewise differ on important moral and legal questions, including the wisdom and justice of California’s Proposition 8, banning same-sex marriage.

Nevertheless we’re united in this: The violence and intimidation being directed against the LDS or “Mormon” church, and other religious organizations—and even against individual believers—simply because they supported Proposition 8 is an outrage that must stop.

Of course, when a religious organization enters the public policy arena, it must be prepared for disputes. Religious groups can’t claim some sort of special immunity from criticism.

Nevertheless, there’s a world of difference between legitimate political give-and-take and violent attempts to cow your opponents into submission. Violence and intimidation are always wrong, whether the victims are believers, gay people, or anyone else.

Some of the violence is being stoked by public statements denouncing the LDS for merely participating in the debate at all—as if that were somehow illegal. The question isn’t even close. Participating in ballot initiatives is legally different from politicking for candidates. It is perfectly lawful for charities, including religious ones. It is perfectly appropriate as well that all voices be heard. That is a basic point of democracy: The proper response to free speech you disagree with is your own free speech in reply, not attempting to coerce your opponents into silence.

Regrettably, some public voices have even sought to excuse the threats and disruptions simply as “demonstrations” that got out of hand. Perhaps that’s true in some cases. Far too many, however, seem never to have been demonstrations in the first place, but more nearly mobs, seeking not to persuade but to intimidate. When thugs send white powder to terrorize any place of worship, especially those of a religious minority, responsible voices need to speak clearly: Religious wars are wrong; they are also dangerous. Those who fail to condemn or seem to condone that intimidation are at fault as well. Consciously or not, they are numbing the public conscience, which endangers all of us.

Let’s be clear: even the crudest anti-religious propaganda isn’t illegal, and may not constitutionally be outlawed. But it’s nevertheless wrong. It has no place in civilized society.

Therefore, despite our fundamental disagreements with one another, we announce today that we will stand shoulder to shoulder to defend any house of worship—Jewish, Christian, Hindu, whatever—from violence, regardless of the cause that violence seeks to serve. Furthermore, beginning today, we commit ourselves to exposing and publicly shaming anyone who resorts to the rhetoric of anti-religious bigotry—against any faith, on any side of any cause, for any reason.
                                                                                     Signed,
Kevin J. “Seamus” Hasson
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty

Nathan J. Diament
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America

Rich Cizik
National Association of Evangelicals

Ronald J. Sider
Evangelicals for Social Action

Chuck Colson
Prison Fellowship

Chris Seiple
Institute for Global Engagement

Dr. Alveda C. King
Civil rights activist

William A. Donohue
Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights

Robert Seiple
Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for
International Religious Freedom

Douglas Laycock
University of Michigan Law School

Marvin Olasky
The King’s College, New York City

Roger Scruton
writer and philosopher

Armando Valladares
former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Commission