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{"id":551,"date":"2014-04-04T08:54:00","date_gmt":"2014-04-04T08:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/04\/on-mozilla-and-freedom-of-conscience.html"},"modified":"2014-04-04T08:54:00","modified_gmt":"2014-04-04T08:54:00","slug":"on-mozilla-and-freedom-of-conscience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/04\/on-mozilla-and-freedom-of-conscience.html","title":{"rendered":"On Mozilla and Freedom of Conscience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Well, what is there to say, really?<\/p>\n

As has been reported in multiple places (see, among others, this Reuters report<\/a>) Mozilla Chief Executive Brendan Eich \u201cresigned\u201d from the job, a month into the position, subsequent to protests by gay rights groups, because, during the campaign for Proposition 8 (you remember that one, right? \u00a0it banned gay marriage in California, until a judge overturned it, the state refused to defend it, and the Supreme Court ruled that no individuals had \u201cstanding\u201d to appeal the ruling), he donated $1,000 to the campaign in support of traditional marriage.<\/p>\n

This is the man who invented Javascript, and co-founded Mozilla, not just one of those types that goes from CEO job to CEO job. \u00a0But now he\u2019s been hounded out by the Thought Police. \u00a0He has not done or said anything \u00a0in his role at Mozilla, nor, indeed, from what I understand, anywhere, but the mere fact that he engaged in a legitimate political process on the other side of an issue from activists meant that he was persona non grata<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t really have anything new or novel to say about this. \u00a0There isn\u2019t really much to say \u2014 this is all of a piece with the prosecution of the gay-marriage-filming-declining photographer. \u00a0The people in power have so quickly seen so much success in terms of court victories and politicians lining up in their favor (and, let\u2019s face it, Obama\u2019s \u201cevolution\u201d in support of gay marriage was a matter of him checking which way the wind was blowing, not a result of deep soul-searching), that they\u2019ve moved very quickly to a McCarthyish witch hunt. \u00a0(Though I hesitate to use that term, since, from what I understand, McCarthy was vindicated when the KGB files were opened up.) <\/p>\n

Actually \u2014 I take that back. \u00a0This isn\u2019t McCarthyism. \u00a0This is more like the Puritans, who fled England because of persecution, but didn\u2019t actually believe in religious pluralism. \u00a0In their view, it\u2019s perfectly fine for one group to impose beliefs on another group \u2014 so long as it was their own, and not someone else\u2019s beliefs that were being imposed. \u00a0Hence, when they had the chance, they were just as intolerant as the English.<\/p>\n

Look \u2014 I know that my readers have a variety of perspectives on The Social Issues, and I generally don\u2019t focus on them because it\u2019s not in my skill set to write about them in an intelligent, non-confrontational, \u201clet\u2019s all talk about this\u201d sort of way. \u00a0I believe that it\u2019s possible to say \u201cthe only reason for the government to get involved in marriage is to provide a stable home life for children\u201d and work through the attendant issues, but these are difficult issues to address in this sort of forum, where it doesn\u2019t take much to end up with \u201cthat\u2019s not what I meant!\u201d sort of arguments. \u00a0(And I\u2019m a middle child \u2014 I hate confrontation.)<\/p>\n

But \u2014 wow \u2014 to get someone fired because of their beliefs? \u00a0 How far does this go? \u00a0Do the protesters believe that traditional marriage opponents don\u2019t deserve employment? \u00a0May work, so long as it\u2019s at a menial job? \u00a0Or are they simply not permitted to reach the top levels? <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"