Enlightened Hatreds

There was yet another apparent case of a deranged individual attempting mass murder on Wednesday, but this time there will be none of the usual attempts to link the violence to the “tea party” or some other conservative cause.

This time the target was the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the Family Research Council, a conservative organization that advocates traditional views on same-sex marriage, abortion, and other political and cultural issues, while the suspect’s only known affiliation is with the DC Center for the LGBT Community, which advocates a more fashionable view of homosexuality. With no plausible way to blame the incident on conservatism, the nation will likely be spared the now ritual sermons about incendiary language, polarizing political rhetoric, and climates of hate.

Perhaps there should be, though. No one was killed in the incident because of the heroic efforts by a security guard, who disarmed and subdued the gunman despite being shot in the arm, but that does not make the perpetrator’s political hatred any less worrisome.

The DC Center for the LGBT Community and 25 other similar groups joined to unequivocally condemn the shooting, and there is no reason to doubt their sincerity, but many advocates for homosexual rights have become increasingly vitriolic in their verbal attacks on opponents. The once-respected Southern Poverty Law Center designated the Family Research Council a “hate group” because it espouses an opinion that was virtually unquestioned in every society until recent years, and is still held by something close to a majority of Americans, including President Obama until recently. The mayors of four major American cities said that they would not allow the Chick-fil-A fast food chain to do business in their towns because the ownership has publicly stated its opposition to same-sex marriage. Numerous other public figures, from beauty pageant contestants to discount store owners, have been similarly disparaged for taking stands against gay marriage.

The same hateful language is routinely employed on behalf of a wide range of liberal causes, and the left’s preferred presidential candidate routinely accuses his opposition of everything from causing cancer to plotting the restoration of chattel slavery.

This is not to say that the principled proponents of same-sex marriage are in any way culpable for the actions of the deranged individual who attacked the Family Research Council, only that those who peddle hatred for the opposition should stop to consider the possibility they might have unwittingly encouraged the hatred of a very sick man. At the very least, they should restrain from trying to blame their enemies the next time something like this happens.

— Bud Norman