On Mozilla and Freedom of Conscience

Last updated on: April 4, 2014 at 8:54 am by Jane the Actuary

On Mozilla and Freedom of Conscience 2014-04-04T08:54:00-06:00 Jane the Actuary

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Well, what is there to say, really?

As has been reported in multiple places (see, among others, this Reuters report) Mozilla Chief Executive Brendan Eich “resigned” from the job, a month into the position, subsequent to protests by gay rights groups, because, during the campaign for Proposition 8 (you remember that one, right? it banned gay marriage in California, until a judge overturned it, the state refused to defend it, and the Supreme Court ruled that no individuals had “standing” to appeal the ruling), he donated $1,000 to the campaign in support of traditional marriage.

This is the man who invented Javascript, and co-founded Mozilla, not just one of those types that goes from CEO job to CEO job. But now he’s been hounded out by the Thought Police. He has not done or said anything in his role at Mozilla, nor, indeed, from what I understand, anywhere, but the mere fact that he engaged in a legitimate political process on the other side of an issue from activists meant that he was persona non grata.

I don’t really have anything new or novel to say about this. There isn’t really much to say — this is all of a piece with the prosecution of the gay-marriage-filming-declining photographer. The people in power have so quickly seen so much success in terms of court victories and politicians lining up in their favor (and, let’s face it, Obama’s “evolution” in support of gay marriage was a matter of him checking which way the wind was blowing, not a result of deep soul-searching), that they’ve moved very quickly to a McCarthyish witch hunt. (Though I hesitate to use that term, since, from what I understand, McCarthy was vindicated when the KGB files were opened up.)

Actually — I take that back. This isn’t McCarthyism. This is more like the Puritans, who fled England because of persecution, but didn’t actually believe in religious pluralism. In their view, it’s perfectly fine for one group to impose beliefs on another group — so long as it was their own, and not someone else’s beliefs that were being imposed. Hence, when they had the chance, they were just as intolerant as the English.

Look — I know that my readers have a variety of perspectives on The Social Issues, and I generally don’t focus on them because it’s not in my skill set to write about them in an intelligent, non-confrontational, “let’s all talk about this” sort of way. I believe that it’s possible to say “the only reason for the government to get involved in marriage is to provide a stable home life for children” and work through the attendant issues, but these are difficult issues to address in this sort of forum, where it doesn’t take much to end up with “that’s not what I meant!” sort of arguments. (And I’m a middle child — I hate confrontation.)

But — wow — to get someone fired because of their beliefs? How far does this go? Do the protesters believe that traditional marriage opponents don’t deserve employment? May work, so long as it’s at a menial job? Or are they simply not permitted to reach the top levels?

Uncategorized

Previous Post

April 4, 2014

Decisions, decisions. . .

Next Post

April 5, 2014 Mozilla and "Reasonable People Disagreeing"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Actuarial/Retirement Issues Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 December 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 August 2021 June 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which Christian group believes in the doctrine of purgatory?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Baptists Pentecostals Catholics Methodists