As the left celebrates in wild Dionysian fashion the moral absolution of godking Justice Anthony Kennedy for homosexuality and same-sex marriage, conservatives prepare for the next round of assaults on their religious freedom.
Back in June 2013, I predicted in this space that the IRS could change its regulations to “remove non-profit status for churches across the country.” I based my logic on the 1983 Bob Jones University case in which the IRS unilaterally removed non-profit status from that institution based on its policies against interracial dating. Already, the triumphal radical left has called for such activity; Mark Oppenheimer, “Beliefs” columnist for The New York Times, wrote:
In the 1983 Bob Jones University case, the court ruled that a school could lose tax-exempt status if its policies violated “fundamental national public policy.” So far, the Bob Jones reasoning hasn’t been extended to other kinds of discrimination, but someday it could be….It’s time to abolish, or greatly diminish, their tax-exempt statuses.
This will not stop at churches and synagogues. The fascistic left has already used same-sex marriage to put religious businessowners under the thumb of government for not deigning to violate their religious principles by serving same-sex weddings. And that fascism will extend to religious schools, which, after all, operate as businesses. Those religious schools will be denied non-profit status. Their accreditation will be reviewed if they refuse to teach the prevailing Justice Kennedy morality (that’s already happening, by the way).
With the gay flag flying high atop government installations and the rainbow projected onto the exterior of the White House, why wouldn’t the new Godgovernment wage an all-out crusade on the idolaters who refuse to acknowledge its rule?
And that crusade won’t stop with private schools or churches. It will extend to homeschooling. When parents decide that they don’t want to send their children to a school forced to propagandize on the morality of homosexuality, they will begin homeschooling in larger numbers. The left will suggest that all homeschooling programs must be accredited, too, and accreditation will be rejected for programs that fail to comply with Justice Kennedy’s New New Testament. That’s the National Education Association’s position on homeschooling already, according to their 2014-2015 Resolutions:
The National Education Association believes that home schooling programs based on parental choice cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience. When home schooling occurs, students enrolled must meet all state curricular requirements, including the taking and passing of assessments to ensure adequate academic progress. Home schooling should be limited to the children of the immediate family, with all expenses being borne by the parents/guardians. Instruction should be by persons who are licensed by the appropriate state education licensure agency, and a curriculum approved by the state department of education should be used.
Then, when parents refuse to comply, parents will be accused of participating in truancy, or worse, propagation of anti-gay bullying. It’s a convenient way of utilizing government-approved education as a proxy for shutting down religious parenting. We now live in a country in which the Department of Education, dedicated to teaching children, displays a gay pride flag on its Facebook page. To believe they will not exert their authority over those who disagree is to demonstrate profound ignorance of the nature of executive government.
With Justice Kennedy’s opinion in one hand and a rainbow flag in the other, the secular left will now press its advantage. Conservatives who pooh-pooh such notions should remember when the secular left insisted that same-sex marriage was a conservative scare tactic. The left requires constant revolution. And that revolution will not end with the declaration of “dignity” provided by Kennedy or a few vulgar parades featuring chaps in assless chaps or a rainbow light display at the White House. It will not end until the unbelievers are destroyed.
Ben Shapiro is Senior Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the book, The People vs. Barack Obama: The Criminal Case Against The Obama Administration (Threshold Editions, June 10, 2014). Follow Ben Shapiro on Twitter @benshapiro.