Free speech under fire

When a high-profile gay person (or people) come under fire from another high-profile gay person for expressing heart-felt convictions, sparks well and truly fly.

I’m referring to the Dolce & Gabbana controversy.  The gay fashion designers are experiencing an attempted boycott and a series of media attacks after an interview with Panorama (US) magazine in which they defended and promoted the value and beauty of the natural family, founded on the union of a man and a woman.  They said:

We oppose gay adoptions.  The only family is the traditional one . . . No chemical offspring and rented uterus: life has a natural flow, there are things that should not be changed. 

Domenico Dolce also declared his opposition to practices such as surrogacy and artificial reproductive technology.  He said:

You are born to a mother and a father - or at least that's how it should be," Dolce says. "I call children of chemistry, synthetic children. Rented uterus, semen chosen from a catalogue.

Spearheading the attack on such ‘outrageous’ remarks is Elton John, the famous musician and LGBT activist.  In the most vehement terms he has accused the gay designers of homophobia, and is organising an international boycott of Dolce & Gabbana products.

Dolce and Gabbana responded by calling Elton John's campaign ‘fascist’ because it blatantly attempts to suppress any dissenting opinions in favour of marriage between a man and a woman.  In the current politically-correct climate, opinions like those of Dolce and Gabbana are shunned, and it takes brave people like them to express their heartfelt views when they cut across popular opinion.

The vehemence of the LGBT proponents against fellow homosexuals who happen to hold a different view of marriage and reproduction is a frightening indication of the way in which free speech is being suppressed in the West.   No alternative view will be tolerated.  It is absurd that people cannot express a simple opinion about the family, in a totally non-violent and democratic way, without being subject to accusations, allegations, insults, and even smear campaigns.

The suppression of free speech is an inevitable consequence of an illiberal, so-called  ‘tolerant’ society, and this incident is an indication of the extent to which political correctness has now affected the general culture and created an aura of censorship and a climate of fear of speaking out.  Dolce and Gabbana must have realised that they were up against more than simply majority public opinion; they clashed with the conscience and worldview of this current generation.

The incident will soon become ‘yesterday’s news’ but the new conscience and worldview is becoming more deeply entrenched.  The new belief system will be imposed more and more strongly and we will be reminded by those with the loudest voices that the new way of living and believing is for our good, that it benefits the majority, that it is for the sake of ‘freedom’ and ‘fairness’, and of course, ‘tolerance.‘

The wave of acceptable public opinion is unlikely to let up.  Many, including the majority of Christians, think it is possible to steer a course that will avoid conflict with popular opinion, if indeed they take much notice of current trends.  Unless they are prepared to compromise their beliefs and capitulate, conflict is bound to occur, and there will be serious consequences, at least as venomous as those the homosexual fashion designers are currently facing.  Free speech has been a valued core aspect of Western society; as it is relentlessly suppressed, we need to recognise the cultural climate for what it is and be prepared for what may follow. 

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