“He hasn’t been censured. He can still express his views.” This is the Orwellian version of ‘freedom of speech’. You are free to say what you want. You can express your views. It may cost you your job but you are still free. Just as Arbeit Macht Frei (work makes you free) was the motto over Auschwitz, so ‘free to speak’ is the motto over modern Western (ill) liberal culture.
Those of us who were and are opposed to same-sex marriage warned that once it was accepted, then those who held to the traditional view that marriage was between a man and a woman, would find themselves mocked, excluded and banned from ‘decent’ society.
We warned that once the gay rights lobby had achieved SSM they would not rest satisfied with that but would seek further ways to impose their philosophy and views upon the rest of us. People laughed. They said ‘don’t be ridiculous…this is all about tolerance, liberal values and love’. They were wrong. This week we have seen a classic example of where that non-Christian version of tolerance leads – the sack.
Brendan Eich is (sorry was) the CEO of Mozilla, one of the most successful tech companies in the world, best known for its Firefox web browser. Mr Eich co-founded Mozilla, and was the creator of the JavaScript scripting language. In other words he is a talented and successful entrepreneur who was good at this job. But he lost it. Why? Because six years ago he committed the unpardonable sin against the Holy State – he donated $1,000 to a campaign that sought to define marriage as being between a man and a woman.
That’s it. He lost his job because he supported the idea that marriage is between a man and a woman. There is no evidence, nor accusation, of homophobic ill treatment of employees. There is no evidence that Mr Eich campaigned within or through the company. For expressing his own opinion, in his own time with his own money, he loses his job.
This came about because of an internet campaign against him, especially from the dating site OkCupid – a site that facilitates homosexual and heterosexual dating. They urged their 3.5 million users not to use Firefox. And their campaign succeeded. The executive chairwoman Mitchell Baker issued a statement which was Orwellian in its meaninglessness – “Mozilla believes both in equality and freedom of speech. Equality is necessary for meaningful speech. And you need free speech to fight for equality. Figuring out how to stand for both at the same time can be hard….Our organizational culture reflects diversity and inclusiveness. We welcome contributions from everyone regardless of age, culture, ethnicity, gender, gender-identity, language, race, sexual orientation, geographical location and religious views. Mozilla supports equality for all.”
Except of course those who hold to a different position from our absolutist morality. You will note what is being said here. We believe in freedom of speech but if you use that freedom to say something we don’t believe in, you are out. We want diversity and inclusiveness and equality for all, except for those who do not believe what we believe.
Apparently some are more equal than others. Thirty years late, George Orwell’s 1984 has arrived.
