LIBERTY ONLINE: HOW MUCH LONGER?
By Harmony Grant
23 Apr 08
In an op-ed for the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith,
Christopher Wolf (chair of the ADL Internet Task Force) recommends “Setting
Boundaries” on freedom of speech online.
“Debating differing ideas is one thing, but when one side of the debate
becomes so mean-spirited, so hateful, and so hurtful that riots are the result,” says
Wolf, “it's time for Internet companies to set boundaries.”
Someone should inform Wolf that most of history’s most powerful and needed
ideas sparked anger and riots. I’m sure as a liberal Jew he wouldn’t
want to turn back the civil rights movement as “so hateful, and so hurtful” it
should have been illegal—but it certainly sparked plenty of riots!
Wolf’s comments followed Pakistan’s ban on You Tube because of a
film critical of the Koran. Internet host Network Solutions pulled the plug on
the film’s main site. Wolf defends that decision since the film might spark “riots
around the world.”
Does he genuinely believe western freedom of speech should be decided by hot
tempers in the Middle East? No. He approves because he wants to advance a much
broader agenda. Wolf says plainly that he hopes the film Pakistan banned “will
start a discussion of what to do about hate content on the Internet.”
The ADL knows exactly what it wants to do. Wolf and ADL are heavily invested
in a broad plan to attack internet freedom and shut down websites whose speech
they hate, particularly anti-Zionist, right-wing, and “fundamentalist Christian” sites.
The Anti-Defamation Commission of B’nai B’rith—Australia’s
version of the Anti-Defamation League—recently applauded the Aussie government’s “proposed
web blackout for hate groups." Even though this broad offensive against
online liberty isn’t yet underway, it’s a model of what ADL would
like to see enforced by governments worldwide.
Attack of the Giant Censors
While the internet (especially in the US) remains a bastion of freedom, ADL
has already made great headway against civil liberties through “anti-hate” and
discrimination laws.
In New Mexico, a family-owned photography company was fined six grand in legal
fees for
refusing services to a same-sex ceremony . Vanessa Willock, a lesbian,
complained to the state Human Rights Commission (HRC). She claimed her civil
rights were violated because the Christian photographers refused their services
because of their religious convictions. Instead of simply patronizing another
private photography business, Willock legally assaulted the Christians’ right
to decide whom to serve. She succeeded because the photography company was
fined thousands of dollars—warning them and other believers not to act
on their convictions. Multiply this case by a few more, and a small business
could easily be bankrupted by activist homosexuals who demand more than legal
equality—they demand special protection and privilege in society.
The presidential race promises only more threats to Christian Americans’ freedom
and individual rights in the workplace. Obama and Clinton both support
a federal hate law and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act . Obama even promises to
usher ENDA through. The Christian Post explains: “ENDA seeks to make
it illegal for employers to make decisions on hiring, firing, promoting or
paying an employee based on sexual orientation. The bill, if passed, would
add “sexual orientation” to a list of federally protected classes
under a 1964 act that prohibits job discrimination on the basis of race, color,
religion, sex or national origin.” Senator
Ted Kennedy has vowed to bring
up ENDA before the end of the year.
In dozens of states—California, Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., Iowa, Illinois,
Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New
Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and
Wisconsin—it is already illegal to discriminate in the workplace because
of sexual orientation. This means private individuals or organizations can’t
make decisions about whom to hire, fire, or serve on the basis of their religious
convictions.
Schools are also sites of freedom violations. In an article called, “What’s
Wrong with this Religious Picture?” Thomas Haynes discusses various censoring
and punishing of Christian students in America. He describes a Wisconsin senior
penalized for an art project that included a cross and Bible verse. The same
student was banned from making a metal cross for an assignment that students
create a metal object of their choice!
In New Jersey, silencing of Christians continues. The 3rd Circuit Court of
Appeals upheld a New Jersey school board’s right to ban
a coach from merely bowing his head when members of his football team led a pre-game prayer.
Three years ago, school officials told the coach not to lead prayers, and now
he is barred from even acknowledging students’ reverence by bowing his
head!
These are just a few examples of Christians facing outright censorship. The
same activists who are so intolerant of Christian speech in schools and private
organizations want to outlaw it on the web. They would like the US to behave
like an Islamic republic (in Pakistan, police are required to immediately arrest
anyone who is even merely accused of blasphemy). They would like the US to
ban films, websites, books, or even cartoons that are outside government-approved
speech—speech limits they will decide.
Such activism is spearheaded by the Jewish Anti-Defamation League of B’nai
B’rith, which has been working for decades to defame, marginalize and
ultimately criminalize Christian and anti-Zionist speech.
If freedom is to be saved, Christians and their leaders must shatter the incredible
fear and silence that protects ADL and Jewish activists. We must identify their
agenda to strip Christians’ freedom to speak about and act on their beliefs.
The Anti-Defamation League must be publicly intimidated before Christians,
well-meaning Jews, and all Americans. It’s high time this anti-freedom
organization feels the heat!
Harmony Grant writes and edits for National Prayer Network, a Christian/conservative
watchdog group.
Let the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith teach you how they
have saddled 45 states with hate laws capable of persecuting Christians: http://www.adl.org/99hatecrime/intro.asp.
Learn how ADL took away free speech in Canada and wants to steal
it now in the U.S. Congress. Watch Rev. Ted Pike's Hate
Laws: Making Criminals of Christians at video.google.com. Purchase
this gripping documentary to show at church. Order online at www.truthtellers.org for
$24.90, DVD or VHS, by calling 503-853-3688, or at the address below.
TALK SHOW HOSTS: Interview Rev. Ted Pike on this
topic. Call (503) 631-3808.
National Prayer Network, P.O. Box 828, Clackamas,
OR 97015
