Can we please stop pretending that the progressive left is the beacon of inclusion and tolerance?
The Left went crazy this week after Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted Saturday that he had used a cash app boost on a purchase at Chick-fil-A. The tweet had zero commentary on Chick-fil-A as a company, its statements, political views, or otherwise, yet the Left felt it particularly offensive that Dorsey chose to eat a chicken sandwich during Pride Month.
Martha MacCallum’s “The Story” on Fox News Channel ran a headline Tuesday that said the Twitter CEO had been “forced” to apologize for his tweet. Thankfully, that’s not quite accurate — he was pressured to and unfortunately caved to a few extreme leftists rather than standing his ground openly or even silently. It’s a chicken sandwich!
But apparently, we’re no longer allowed to freely choose where to stop for lunch, and especially during Pride Month. How is it a remotely tolerant idea that just because the LGBT community is pushing “pride” on us, everyone has to participate, celebrate, and shut down our views (and yes, even our lunches) during June?
I could just recycle my piece from a mere eight weeks ago, when a New Yorker writer also attacked Chick-fil-A, claiming that the restaurant’s “infiltration” of New York is virtually synonymous to a crusade and makes them worthy of public shunning and ouster. That we’re here again so quickly with intolerance against Christians over a tweet that had nothing to do with religious beliefs just shows how prolific and openly hostile the LGBT progressives are against Christianity.
The LGBT Left has even resorted to lying about Christians to advance their “cause.” Following the Masterpiece decision, the gay couple at the center of that controversy were quoted as saying, “We brought this case because no one should have to face the shame, embarrassment, and humiliation of being told ‘we don’t serve your kind here’ that we faced …”
But a closer examination of the facts reveals that Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, never denied them service and certainly never said anything remotely close to what the couple is now saying. Phillips in fact offered to sell them anything in his store. He did not refuse them service, he politely declined to create a custom piece for their event. Phillips also had a history of declining other custom pieces (regardless of the identity or views of the customer) for other events that he believed he could not in good conscience create — Halloween cakes, divorce cakes, adult-themed cakes, anti-American cakes, and more.
Rather than faith-based communities, it’s actually the LGBT groups that are being intolerant and bigoted. In the wake of the Dorsey tweet controversy, HuffPost published out a piece titled, “If You Really Love LGBTQ People, You Just Can’t Keep Eating Chick-fil-A,” which basically issues an ultimatum: It’s either us or the Christian sandwich.
This is precisely the kind of divisive rhetoric that is nothing remotely like the tolerance for all ideas and viewpoints that the Left supposedly affirms. And the incredibly dangerous consequence of this ideology is that the LGBT community has steadfastly encouraged and demanded that the government compel you and me to believe in, participate in, and celebrate their views.
This ideology is nothing like tolerance or the free marketplace of ideas that our Founders sought to protect through the Bill of Rights, particularly our First Amendment. Christians do not seek to compel belief in God, but rather openly invite others to discover God. True tolerance is recognizing that each of us has the opportunity in a free society to advocate for our sincerely held beliefs and engage our businesses and families freely exercising our sincerely held beliefs.
As the progressive Left continues to push their outrageous ultimatums, three things encourage me. First, the Supreme Court just issued a firm smackdown to government agents who are hostile and biased against Christians — that’s encouraging. Second, even the Twitter mob responded largely by rejecting this kind of ultimatum — that’s also encouraging. Third, President Trump has made religious liberty a priority for the administration — that’s the most encouraging.
Perhaps common sense, true tolerance, and ultimately constitutional protections will continue to prevail in society. We shouldn’t believe the progressive Left’s lie that they affirm tolerance or buy into their hostile rhetoric. We should instead continue to be more like Chick-fil-A and Jack Phillips (the truly tolerant) by openly holding and exercising sincerely held religious beliefs, being kind to everyone, and making more tasty pastries and chicken sandwiches.
Jenna Ellis (@jennaellisJDFI) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is Director of Public Policy at the James Dobson Family Institute. She is a constitutional law attorney, radio host, and the author of The Legal Basis for a Moral Constitution.
