By Felix Veritas
Revisionist history is tricky. When you try re-writing the past — like the liberal Left is today – sometimes you forget details….little indentations in the painted canvas you so furiously try whitewashing clean.
Today the Left so feverishly portrays America as a secularly-founded country (I never knew so many libs loved “separation of church and state” author Thomas Jefferson till now), in the face of any/all logic and evidence, that they slipped and forgot one of their own.
They forgot we fought this battle before, a generation ago. Back then the left was on the religious expression side. Back then their hero embodied their struggle and ideals. Ironic that their icon’s words back then speak against their efforts now.
Muhammad Ali refused to be drafted into military service as a conscientious objector to war based on his religious beliefs. That was 1967, and The Greatest was worshipped for his defiance of the Cultural Establishment. The Left glorified Ali’s devotion to his cause, and championed it at every opportunity. The Freedom of Religious Expression secured by the First Amendment echoed through every speech, pamphlet, newspaper column and protest chant extolling Ali’s plight.
Oops. Forgot that one, didn’t you.
My how times change. Today, expressing religious beliefs – especially those held fervently – is decried and excoriated by the Left. The moral stand liberals venerated a generation ago is now labeled “hate.” What would they say to Muhammad Ali today, if he once again embraced his Islamic beliefs and denounced homosexuality, as his Islamic faith teaches? Would he still be their Champion?
Of course not. The Left’s support of Ali’s religious freedom was as superficial then as its supposed-desire for ‘marriage equality’ is now. Today’s liberal agenda isn’t about marriage any more than their support of Ali was about religion. It’s about damaging traditional American institutions.
In 1967, Ali’s stand gave the military (and the Vietnam War) – the Left’s Public Enemy Number One at the time — a black eye. Today’s liberal target is conservative culture, and redefining traditional marriage weakens that culture. Worse (at least for conservatives and constitutional traditionalists), the marriage ruling releases the legal attack dogs on any entity expressing a religious conviction not supporting gay marriage.
Cakes and florists were just the beginning. The cable network TV Land just took reruns of The Dukes of Hazzard off the air because of possible offensive symbols. The attack dogs are coming, and this time Bull Connor wears a rainbow hat.
This is the next installment in our series of contributions by a mysterious denizen of Mobile, Alabama, named “Felix Veritas.” I promise that I am not Felix and Felix is not I. In fact, there will surely be times when I disagree with Felix; I could take issue with a sentence or two in this, his third installment.
Felix is very thoughtful and a terrific auto-didact, with a great sense for “the big questions” of culture and politics. I am delighted to have his contributions to this site. Please be on the lookout for more, in the coming months. — Quin
