“If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth.” -Ronald Reagan

The events and circumstances surrounding Barronelle Stutzman have brought into stark clarity the motives and designs of the gay marriage movement here in the United States. It is has never been about marriage equality as some have claimed, but it is about the targeting and removal of all influence and participation by Christians in our society today. Recent polls have show a precipitous drop in support for gay marriage as citizens with opinions on both sides of the debate have been appalled to see the blatant religious persecution of Christians by homosexuals in our Nation. What was once thought the unthinkable has become reality in the United States.

Even as buyer’s remorse has begun to set in for some of the proponents of gay marriage, the die has been cast as the political establishment has gleefully taken up the charge. Christianity with its teachings of moral virtue, demands of purity, and calls to fidelity have long been viewed as an encumbrance to government by the politically elite and scorned and despised by their media allies. Now emboldened by what they perceive as a populace surge of animosity towards Christianity, governmental institutions have handed a regulatory bludgeon to homosexual activists, encouraging them to target their “enemy”, and target them they have.

The crusade against Christianity has swept across the Nation isolating every man, woman, and child who dare to holds opinions that differ with homosexuals. These are hauled into court, their businesses taken away, homes and finances confiscated, sent off to reeducation classes, children are mocked and humiliated in school, and parents threatened to have their children taken away if they don’t recant their beliefs. Why? Their beliefs are unacceptable to the government.

But what of the 1^st Amendment, you ask? Was this Amendment put in place only to protect the views and beliefs of those who are in vogue and popular? Why would there need to be an amendment to protect the speech of those the populace and government found acceptable? In contrast, wouldn’t the purpose our Founders foresaw be to protect unpopular speech, beliefs, ideas, dissidents, revolutionaries, unpopular religions, and the intolerant under the 1^st Amendment? The 1^st Amendment doesn’t protect your right to be nice and accepted. It protects your right to rattle somebody’s cage.

So, how does a minority group of about 1% of the populace receive the power to persecute Christians, who still make up a majority in this Nation? The bane of society today is political appeasement. Not all in the political class are looking for an opportunity to attack Christians; in fact, a majority probably does not. They just lack the intestinal fortitude to do what our Founding Fathers did in the Constitution and Bill of Rights: Say no!

Decisions of law and governance are no longer legislated with a view of its effect upon the Constitution, but rather, the effect upon the emotions and comfort of the aggrieved, unless, of course, you’re a Christian. The government thinks popular opinion views Christians as a punching bag, and why not? The Nightly News tells them so. Punch away!

Government is always playing catch-up. In an effort to be “cool”, politicos always govern based on what polls dictate. By the time the laws engage, the populace opinion has changed and government must oppress in order to enforce its new laws. Governing by popularity is like that hapless friend who is always showing up to the party wearing the “latest” style only to painfully realize that style changed in the last 48 hrs. They never realize that a blue jeans and t-shirt approach can weather every changing fad.

Now as the persecutions increase, Americans are getting that sinking feeling they’ve been duped. Those that are old enough to remember a time when history was taught in schools see the ominous shadow of totalitarianism rising from the mist of tolerance. What if my beliefs are suddenly deemed intolerant by the government? That hollow thud of realization you feel in the pit of your stomach might be the sound of the other shoe dropping.