What do same-sex wedding cakes and boycotting Israel have in common?
Both real and faux conservatives rightly defended Jack Phillips and Masterpiece Cakeshop when the State of Colorado tried to force the Christian baker to make a same-sex wedding cake in violation of his First Amendment right to freedom of speech and religion. Phillips won his the case — sort of — in a Supreme Court ruling last year.
Protecting our constitutional rights is supposed to be the number one responsibility of the federal government. But in today’s Washington, the Constitution is usually relegated to the backseat whenever our God-given rights conflict with a political agenda — the host of liberty-killing post 9-11 laws being a classic example — even when the agenda appears to be a good thing.
For example, in response to the growing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement “working to end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law,” the GOP-led Senate passed a bill back in February (75-25) that allows states to pass laws targeting businesses that boycott Israel.
Earlier this week, the House was nearly unanimous (398-17) in passing a resolution (H.Res.246) opposing efforts to delegitimize the State of Israel and the BDS movement.
The rightness and/or wrongness of the BDS movement is debatable, but the threat to our constitutional rights is beyond debate.
Put simply, the bill passed in the Senate and the resolution passed in the House are clear violations of our freedom of speech, and in some cases, freedom of religion. In 1982, boycotts were specifically protected as a form of free speech by the Supreme Court in NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) — who carries a 98% (A) Liberty Score® with Conservative Review — was one of the 17 “no” votes on the House resolution and explained why on his Facebook page.
Here’s a couple of questions for you to ponder: Why did the House slip the two-state solution into the resolution? Did Donald Trump and Jared Kushner have something to do with it? Could be. The two New York Liberals have openly supported the two-state solution as part of Trump’s yet-to-be-announced Middle East peace plan.
Whether it’s baking cakes for same-sex weddings or BDS boycotting Israel, we need to wake up to the reality of big government’s assault on our constitutionally protected, God-given rights and prepare ourselves to defend them before it’s too late.
*Note to evangelicals and AIPAC: Do your research regarding my support of Israel before sending your emails accusing me of being anti-Semitic. It will save both of us a lot of time.
David Leach is the owner of the Strident Conservative. He holds people of every political stripe accountable for their failure to uphold conservative values, and he promotes those values instead of political parties.
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