Hate Speech, the Fairness Doctrine, and Silencing Religious Heartland Voters

Scott has a post up which is well-intentioned, but unfortunately incorrect on the merits. Pastor Rick Warren is indeed in very grave danger of being silenced by intolerant bigots who are intolerant of and bigoted against intolerant bigotry.

To follow up on this, it's not merely that the California court's decision was directed entirely at state actors, and had no bearing on the actions of private churches at all. It's that the whole category of "hate speech," as it pertains to American law, doesn't exist. The state cannot restrict speech solely based in its content no matter how hateful or potentially dangerous; this has been well-settled federal law for nearly 40 years. (The separate category of hate crimes, which deal with the intent of the perpetrators of violent crimes -- which is always relevant -- as opposed to their beliefs per se is again of no relevance to Warren's claims.) This is recognized by critics of the libertarian American approach as well as those (like me) who generally favor it.

Whatever the decision Prop 8 sought to overturn had said, therefore, it simply could not have made any action by a church criminal, and anybody who actually knew anything about American politics and constitutional law would know that.

This analysis is fine, as far as it goes, but what Scott neglects to mention is that as soon as the new president and the Democrat congress ram the Fairness Doctrine down the nation's throat, violently and repeatedly, then it will be punishable by jail time in a very gay jail to say anything bad about gays, in public or in private. Pastors will be especially vulnerable, particularly after they are banned from mentioning God in their sermons. Warren is very likely to be led off in irons after speaking at the inauguration. And since everyone's guns will be confiscated, citizens will be unable to protest in any way.

You can find evidence of this upcoming legal reality on many highly reputable Internet web sites; I'm surprised Scott hasn't considered it. And given how suddenly everything is about to change forever, it's hard to see why homosexuals should be upset at being denied equal rights under the law. Any objective investigation of contemporary society must inevitably conclude that straight white Christian men are, as always, the most oppressed people ever.