1/31/2020 - David Limbaugh Townhall.com
One
of the most revealing things about the leftist mindset is the usual leftist's
lack of self-awareness about his own intolerance, hatefulness and inclusiveness
-- unless you distort all those terms to whitewash the reality.
I
will never forget reading (and writing about) the unfortunate experience of
Professor Janice Price, an education instructor at DePauw University in
Greencastle, Indiana. The school suspended Price and cut her salary for
subjecting her students to a "hostile environment." Her sin was
placing issues of Teachers in Focus magazine on the table in the back of her
classroom that contained articles written from a Christian viewpoint. One of
the articles offered suggestions on how teachers should approach the issue of
homosexuality in public schools.
Price
told the students they could read the magazines if they wanted to but were not
required to and would not be given assignments on them. The article on
homosexuality offended one student, who filed a complaint with the
administration. The vice president of academic affairs sent Price a letter of
reprimand, saying her "reprehensible" action of providing students
with "intolerant" material "served to create a hostile
environment" in violation of school policy. This administrator said that
the university "cannot tolerate the intolerable." Savor that!
Price's
fellow professor and friend Dr. Mary English aptly described the university's
attitude. "We have to be tolerant and politically correct in all other
areas except Christianity," said English. "So it's okay to be
intolerant of Christians as long as Christians are tolerant of everybody
else." Interestingly, DePauw was -- and still is -- affiliated with the
United Methodist Church. And, no, I'm not kidding.
In
the nearly 20 years since this unfortunate incident, the double standard and
intolerance against Christians has only intensified. Leftists have grown
increasingly intolerant of an expanding universe of things they find
intolerable. They are just as lacking in self-awareness as they were then, and
even less capable of self-reflection. Their intolerance has, in many cases,
turned to hostility and, in some cases, hate.
Now
turn with me, if you will, to present-day America, where Sen. Elizabeth Warren
seeks the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. Warren tweeted a link to
a HuffPost article about a U.S. Supreme Court case involving a challenge to a
Montana law that provides tax credits for donations to school scholarship
organizations that use those donations to fund private schools, both religious
and secular. A provision of Montana's constitution (the Blaine Amendment)
prohibits the expenditure of public funds for religious purposes, and the
Montana Supreme Court struck down the tax credit program, even though the use
of these funds isn't technically an expenditure of public funds and even though
secular schools benefit along with religious schools.
The
U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether the Montana Supreme Court infringed on
the people's free exercise of religion under the First Amendment by
invalidating the program. The court is being asked to follow its precedent that
states can't discriminate against religious organizations by allowing secular
organizations to benefit and not religious ones.
Warren,
of course, stands with the Montana Supreme Court. She is against school choice
programs and doesn't want any private schools to benefit. But she's especially
against Christian schools benefitting, because in her view, they teach hate.
"States
should focus on funding public schools, not private ones -- especially not ones
that maintain anti-LGBTQ+ policies," Warren tweeted. "We must ensure
every kid -- especially LGBTQ+ kids -- can get a high-quality education."
How
does allowing people tax credits for donations to private Christian and secular
schools jeopardize LGBTQ+ kids' education? Warren knows that's nonsense. Her
complaint is that some of the Christian schools that will benefit from the
donations use a Christian-based curriculum. She's upset that their student
handbooks teach that God created each person as male or female, and that He
created marriage to be between one man and one woman. She's distressed that
some of the schools require students and visitors to use restrooms and locker
rooms that conform to their biological sex.
To
have a snowball's chance at the Democratic presidential nomination today, you
have to push all the politically correct buttons and pander to the party's
leftist base. Sometimes this means you at least have to pretend that you
believe certain scriptural passages constitute hate speech. It means you
shouldn't tolerate the opinions of those who follow these biblical teachings.
Sadly,
there is a growing hostility from the left toward certain biblical teachings
and those who subscribe to them -- an insistence on demonizing them for their
beliefs. Pretending this isn't true won't make it go away. Calling your
attention to it should not be controversial. Pointing out intolerance and hate
is not exhibiting intolerance and hate. Rolling over and surrendering one's
principles to conform to society's ever-changing norms is not courageous. Pray
for wisdom, understanding, peace and harmony.
David
Limbaugh is a writer, author and attorney. His latest book is "Guilty by
Reason of Insanity: Why the Democrats Must Not Win." Follow him on Twitter
@davidlimbaugh and his website at www.davidlimbaugh.com. To read features by
other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate
webpage at www.creators.com.
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