The End of A Wonderful Relationship.
It has been over 10-years now that I have enjoyed my Internet relationship with Mozilla. The company behind the search engine Firefox, the email client server Thunderbird and technologies like Java Script; as of today it ends. Mozilla describes itself as a not-for profit Internet community which seeks to be a vehicle of tolerance and free expression, a group that is dedicated to making the web available and accessible to everyone without regard to differences of culture. Their actions this week belies their claim.
They fired their CEO Brendan Eich, not because of performance, or even some public act outside the job that embarrassed the company. They fired him because more than 5- years ago before he worked forthem he exercised his rights as US Citizen to make a contribution to a political cause. He made a $1000.00 contribution to a proposed California ballot initiative commonly known as Proposition 8, which made gay marriage illegal in California. The proposition passed before being overturned by the courts, which meant it was the majority opinion and will of the people of one of the most liberal states in the country. It was also the stated opinion of both democratic presidential contenders Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton at the time. The decision to fire Eich came the very week the US Supreme Court upheld the right of individuals to contribute to as many causes and opinions as they choose, declaring that a free society required freedom of opinion.
The First Amendment to the US constitution was not written to advance political correctness. It was written to protect those who wanted to express and opinion that is incorrect, unpopular or even unwanted. Courts have ruled that people have the right to publish pornography, they ruled the American Nazi party had the right to hold a parade in the nearly-all-Jewish town of Skokie, Illinois, and that a Kansas City Church, Westboro Baptist, has the right to picket funerals of fallen veterans.It gives people the right to fly the flag or to burn it. It prevents the federal government from squelching speech merely to advance their on power and agenda.
The First Amendment, though, does not apply to a business in the same way it does a government. If a persons actions or speech hurts a corporation or denies it profit a company or organization can fire the employee. You have every right to criticize your boss on your Facebook page and talk about your fellow employees, and your boss has the right to defend her reputation by firing you. A& E had the right to non-renew Phil Robertson, Ducnk Dynasty, contract, and Facebook has the right to fire Eich. They believe his actions harm the company. In actuality the action reveals the company exists to promote a liberal political agenda and that they would rather not do business with those who disagree, which includes me. In a free market place of ideas, though, consumers can send a clear message to Facebook.
The problem with Facebook's decision to fire Eich, like A&E's decision to non-renew the Robertson contract is that tyranny may be more dangerous when applied by a corporation, than by a government. If for example a Christian owner of a business refuses to allow a Muslim to wear the apparel their religion requires in the work place, they deny them the right to make a living. One gay commentator Andrew Sullivan was quoted this week saying, “If we cannot live and work alongside people with whom we deeply disagree,” he argues “we are finished as a liberal society.” How can a company, like Mozilla, claim to be tolerant of diversity and fire someone who previously (Eich says he has changed his mind about Gay Marriage) held a position that has until very recently been the accepted view of every society and culture for all of human history, butwho has since claimed to have become enlightened, be fired for their belief. This is the very same logic that lead to the firing of Paula Dean from the food network. By that logic Barak Obama should be impeached and Hillary Clinton disqualified from ever holding office again as both said in 2008 they opposed gay marriage.
The lesson in this event is about the nature of liberalism and political correctness. As former Speaker of the House of Representives Newt Gingrich points out in his blog this week:
"The new bigotry is on the left, and as Sullivan points out, it isn’t liberal at all. It’s totalitarian. Consider that the Mozilla Corporation and those who screamed for Eich’s resignation assert that his deviation from social liberalism is not just a cause for criticism, but a disqualification for employment. They are literally arguing that his private thoughts about an issue like marriage should prevent him from holding a job. The ability to kill a man’s job, of course, is devastating. Thousands of people donated to Proposition 8 and similar efforts, and their names are listed in public databases. Are all of their jobs now at risk? How about people who have contributed to candidates supporting traditional marriage? Are all of them unfit as coworkers? ...Perhaps most outrageous of all, these people have called for Eich’s resignation, most likely, for his religious beliefs. Anti-religious bigotry is as repulsive as any other form of bigotry. Yet it is becoming more pronounced on the left all the time.Freedom of thought and religious liberty will be central issues of the next generation. Already both in government and in civil society, there are movements devoted to forcing Americans to renounce or to violate their consciences. Mozilla, along with the Hobby Lobby and Little Sisters of the Poor cases before the Supreme Court, are just a few of the most recent examples"
For many on the left toleration ends where there "sacred cows" begin. If you criticize an African American politician you must be racist, if you express your religious conviction you are a hate monger-er. This is happening enough now that something must be done!
History shows us that when people are complacent about the disenfranchisement of others they soon find themselves oppressed. Isn't that the lesson of the Jewish collaborators with the Nazi Germans in Poland or the lesson of the Vichy French Government. The solution however is not government intervention. The constitution gives Mozilla the right to have an opinion and to require employees to conform to it. It gives Christian colleges the right to hire Christians exclusively. If Mozilla wants to be a company dedicated to advancement of a liberal world view they have that right. They have the right to fire someone (or pressure them to resign) whose life is contrary to the company mission. The Mozilla Chairwoman who apologized for Mr. Eich's "offensive conduct that anger's employees" clearly reasoned that his association with the company would hinder the company's progress.
I think it's time to convince her otherwise. Viewers of A&E showed the network that liberal ideals are not accepted by everyone and that the loss of viewership would be greater if Phil Robertson were punished for his deeply held beliefs, Mozilla can come to the same awakening. I am today setting up another principle browser for my Internet use. I will within the week remove Thunderbird software as my email client. This will be a sacrifice for me. No browser is as easy to use as Firefox. And Thunderbird email client is far superior to Outlook or Lotus Notes at least for personal use. When I think back on all the people who have sacrificed for our liberty changing browser seems an insignificant loss. If I and others sit by quietly while liberal corporations persecute conservatives we will cease to be a society that is free and soon be a place where might and money triumphs over right and righteousness.
I am reminded of the those Jewish leaders in Poland who told Nazi collaborators that if they continued helping the Nazi would soon be coming for them. I am reminded that all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. I do not know Bernard Eich-- never met the man. I do not even know if he is seeking advocacy. I do not know why he decided to resign rather than to fight this. I do know that if Mozilla can do this to him my employer or yours can do it to me or you. I want to send a message to Mozilla, that I for one am not going to be silent when liberty is threatened. I am not doing this for Bernard Eich. I am doing this so that I can be certain that I as a Christian who believes in a traditional view of marriage will be able to continue working along side of gay couples and that we all will be able to pay our mortgages pursue happiness. Nor am I a believer in boycotts. They are usually ineffective. I do wish those who share the values of this blog will re-post it and if they are a Mozilla customer. Firefox, or Thunderbird user they will disconnect. There are plenty of other options out there. There will be as long as we remain free. If enough of us do it Mozilla will get the message.
They fired their CEO Brendan Eich, not because of performance, or even some public act outside the job that embarrassed the company. They fired him because more than 5- years ago before he worked forthem he exercised his rights as US Citizen to make a contribution to a political cause. He made a $1000.00 contribution to a proposed California ballot initiative commonly known as Proposition 8, which made gay marriage illegal in California. The proposition passed before being overturned by the courts, which meant it was the majority opinion and will of the people of one of the most liberal states in the country. It was also the stated opinion of both democratic presidential contenders Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton at the time. The decision to fire Eich came the very week the US Supreme Court upheld the right of individuals to contribute to as many causes and opinions as they choose, declaring that a free society required freedom of opinion.
The First Amendment to the US constitution was not written to advance political correctness. It was written to protect those who wanted to express and opinion that is incorrect, unpopular or even unwanted. Courts have ruled that people have the right to publish pornography, they ruled the American Nazi party had the right to hold a parade in the nearly-all-Jewish town of Skokie, Illinois, and that a Kansas City Church, Westboro Baptist, has the right to picket funerals of fallen veterans.It gives people the right to fly the flag or to burn it. It prevents the federal government from squelching speech merely to advance their on power and agenda.
The First Amendment, though, does not apply to a business in the same way it does a government. If a persons actions or speech hurts a corporation or denies it profit a company or organization can fire the employee. You have every right to criticize your boss on your Facebook page and talk about your fellow employees, and your boss has the right to defend her reputation by firing you. A& E had the right to non-renew Phil Robertson, Ducnk Dynasty, contract, and Facebook has the right to fire Eich. They believe his actions harm the company. In actuality the action reveals the company exists to promote a liberal political agenda and that they would rather not do business with those who disagree, which includes me. In a free market place of ideas, though, consumers can send a clear message to Facebook.
The problem with Facebook's decision to fire Eich, like A&E's decision to non-renew the Robertson contract is that tyranny may be more dangerous when applied by a corporation, than by a government. If for example a Christian owner of a business refuses to allow a Muslim to wear the apparel their religion requires in the work place, they deny them the right to make a living. One gay commentator Andrew Sullivan was quoted this week saying, “If we cannot live and work alongside people with whom we deeply disagree,” he argues “we are finished as a liberal society.” How can a company, like Mozilla, claim to be tolerant of diversity and fire someone who previously (Eich says he has changed his mind about Gay Marriage) held a position that has until very recently been the accepted view of every society and culture for all of human history, butwho has since claimed to have become enlightened, be fired for their belief. This is the very same logic that lead to the firing of Paula Dean from the food network. By that logic Barak Obama should be impeached and Hillary Clinton disqualified from ever holding office again as both said in 2008 they opposed gay marriage.
The lesson in this event is about the nature of liberalism and political correctness. As former Speaker of the House of Representives Newt Gingrich points out in his blog this week:
"The new bigotry is on the left, and as Sullivan points out, it isn’t liberal at all. It’s totalitarian. Consider that the Mozilla Corporation and those who screamed for Eich’s resignation assert that his deviation from social liberalism is not just a cause for criticism, but a disqualification for employment. They are literally arguing that his private thoughts about an issue like marriage should prevent him from holding a job. The ability to kill a man’s job, of course, is devastating. Thousands of people donated to Proposition 8 and similar efforts, and their names are listed in public databases. Are all of their jobs now at risk? How about people who have contributed to candidates supporting traditional marriage? Are all of them unfit as coworkers? ...Perhaps most outrageous of all, these people have called for Eich’s resignation, most likely, for his religious beliefs. Anti-religious bigotry is as repulsive as any other form of bigotry. Yet it is becoming more pronounced on the left all the time.Freedom of thought and religious liberty will be central issues of the next generation. Already both in government and in civil society, there are movements devoted to forcing Americans to renounce or to violate their consciences. Mozilla, along with the Hobby Lobby and Little Sisters of the Poor cases before the Supreme Court, are just a few of the most recent examples"
For many on the left toleration ends where there "sacred cows" begin. If you criticize an African American politician you must be racist, if you express your religious conviction you are a hate monger-er. This is happening enough now that something must be done!
History shows us that when people are complacent about the disenfranchisement of others they soon find themselves oppressed. Isn't that the lesson of the Jewish collaborators with the Nazi Germans in Poland or the lesson of the Vichy French Government. The solution however is not government intervention. The constitution gives Mozilla the right to have an opinion and to require employees to conform to it. It gives Christian colleges the right to hire Christians exclusively. If Mozilla wants to be a company dedicated to advancement of a liberal world view they have that right. They have the right to fire someone (or pressure them to resign) whose life is contrary to the company mission. The Mozilla Chairwoman who apologized for Mr. Eich's "offensive conduct that anger's employees" clearly reasoned that his association with the company would hinder the company's progress.
I think it's time to convince her otherwise. Viewers of A&E showed the network that liberal ideals are not accepted by everyone and that the loss of viewership would be greater if Phil Robertson were punished for his deeply held beliefs, Mozilla can come to the same awakening. I am today setting up another principle browser for my Internet use. I will within the week remove Thunderbird software as my email client. This will be a sacrifice for me. No browser is as easy to use as Firefox. And Thunderbird email client is far superior to Outlook or Lotus Notes at least for personal use. When I think back on all the people who have sacrificed for our liberty changing browser seems an insignificant loss. If I and others sit by quietly while liberal corporations persecute conservatives we will cease to be a society that is free and soon be a place where might and money triumphs over right and righteousness.
I am reminded of the those Jewish leaders in Poland who told Nazi collaborators that if they continued helping the Nazi would soon be coming for them. I am reminded that all it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. I do not know Bernard Eich-- never met the man. I do not even know if he is seeking advocacy. I do not know why he decided to resign rather than to fight this. I do know that if Mozilla can do this to him my employer or yours can do it to me or you. I want to send a message to Mozilla, that I for one am not going to be silent when liberty is threatened. I am not doing this for Bernard Eich. I am doing this so that I can be certain that I as a Christian who believes in a traditional view of marriage will be able to continue working along side of gay couples and that we all will be able to pay our mortgages pursue happiness. Nor am I a believer in boycotts. They are usually ineffective. I do wish those who share the values of this blog will re-post it and if they are a Mozilla customer. Firefox, or Thunderbird user they will disconnect. There are plenty of other options out there. There will be as long as we remain free. If enough of us do it Mozilla will get the message.
Comments
Post a Comment