Welcome to the newest battle in America's culture war.
Last week, people who have long claimed they stand for "tolerance" engaged in vicious attacks on one of America's most-beloved families. In doing so, they proved once again that their primary goal is not peaceful co-existence, but the elimination of traditional values in America.
In August, TLC's famed family, the Duggars, attempted to protect young girls by opposing an ordinance that would have allowed men who claim to be women to use female restrooms, locker rooms, etc. Rightly, family matriarch Michelle Duggar asked the public if they wanted grown men next to their daughters in these facilities.
For their efforts to protect young girls, the Duggars have come under attack in the form of a months-old petition that was dead in the water until reports by E! Online and Huffington Post gave it widespread coverage last week. The backers of that petition have accused the Duggars of "fear mongering" and bigotry, and are demanding that TLC cancel the Duggars' show, 19 Kids and Counting.
In response, LifeSiteNews launched a counter-petition to give America's silent majority a chance to voice their support for the Duggars and the promotion of commonsense traditional values.
Today, that petition has more than 180,000 signatures. Not only did it surpass the anti-Duggar petition in less than 72 hours, but it also exposed the hypocritical and often hateful treatment of Americans who hold traditional values.
In addition to signing the petition, thousands of grassroots Americans stood with the Duggars on Facebook and in our #DefendtheDuggars Tweetfest. Well-known traditional values supporters like Jason and David Benham -- whose TV show dedicated to helping the disadvantaged was axed because of their pro-life and pro-family values -- and former Fox News contributor Steven Crowder joined forces to ask the American people to keep the Duggars on-air.
Whether TLC cancels 19 Kids and Counting is up to the free market of ideas -- as it should be. All people have the right to voice their opinions. But recent years have seen a rise in efforts to use government to discriminate against some opinions through local, state, and federal laws, and labeling any opposition to their agenda as de facto "hate."
Today, in the so-called land of the free, some states have laws saying that you can be fined, or even jailed, for not wanting to violate your religious beliefs as a photographer, a baker, or a farm owner. Now, leaders of this agenda want the few cultural bright lights such as the Duggars gone from the public eye.
They want total domination of U.S. culture and law, and no dissent will be accepted. The Duggars are only the latest victims of this agenda. It happened with the Benham Brothers, and nearly happened to Phil Robertson, whose blunt, but love-filled comments about sin were taken radically out of context.
Thanks to the enthusiastic support of the American grassroots, LifeSiteNews' petition has seen enormous success. Once again, the silent majority is showing its displeasure at seeing its values trampled upon by the same people who hypocritically claim to desire tolerance and charity while denying them to cultural and political opponents.
-- John-Henry Westen is a co-founder of LifeSiteNews.com, a daily news website for life and family issues. He is also a co-founder of Voice of the Family, an influential worldwide coalition of pro-life and pro-family groups.
