Reactions often speak louder than actions, and no where is this more evident than in the reaction to Chick-fil-A's owners actually saying they believe what they believe. I'm not talking about gay rights groups stating their outrage (though the false equation that says "anti-same sex marriage = anti-gay" is getting boring), nor am I talking about planned boycotts (which are silly) and protests (which will be intentionally silly).
No, I'm talking of the mayors of major US cities deciding that the power of government can be welded to tell citizens to sit down and shut up. That these, er, gentlemen consider themselves liberals is just insulting. That civil liberty groups aren't outraged is sad.
If you agree with these mayors it's probably because you agree with what they're saying, but please try and look beyond that. If you grant these people the power to actually do what they're saying, you are granting government that power. One day, there will be someone in office who will decide that what you're saying or doing is bad, and will use this very same power against you.
And then you'll squeal, but it's too late, you gave them the authority.
The grossest example of this was the internment of US citizens during World War 2, simply because they were of Japanese descent. The assumption is this internment was unconstitutional, but the reality is that the US Supreme Court found otherwise in Korematsu v. United States. While the decision has been criticized, it has not been overturned and therefore remains a valid legal precedent.
As Justice Robert Jackson noted in his dissent:
No, I'm talking of the mayors of major US cities deciding that the power of government can be welded to tell citizens to sit down and shut up. That these, er, gentlemen consider themselves liberals is just insulting. That civil liberty groups aren't outraged is sad.
If you agree with these mayors it's probably because you agree with what they're saying, but please try and look beyond that. If you grant these people the power to actually do what they're saying, you are granting government that power. One day, there will be someone in office who will decide that what you're saying or doing is bad, and will use this very same power against you.
And then you'll squeal, but it's too late, you gave them the authority.
The grossest example of this was the internment of US citizens during World War 2, simply because they were of Japanese descent. The assumption is this internment was unconstitutional, but the reality is that the US Supreme Court found otherwise in Korematsu v. United States. While the decision has been criticized, it has not been overturned and therefore remains a valid legal precedent.
As Justice Robert Jackson noted in his dissent:
The principle then lies about like a loaded weapon, ready for the hand of any authority that can bring forward a plausible claim of an urgent need. Every repetition embeds that principle more deeply in our law and thinking and expands it to new purposes.Protest Chick-fil-A all you want, but you should be worried when government decides to act against anyone's free speech.
Posted with Blogsy
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