In case you missed it — and you may have, because leftist hate-mobs now travel at the speed of the Internet — here’s a quick recap of what just happened in a small town in Indiana:
Earlier this week, a South Bend TV reporter named Alyssa Marino (pictured above) went to the nearby tiny town of Walkerton, entered a family-owned restaurant called Memories Pizza, and asked one of the proprietors for her opinion about Indiana’s new RFRA law. The woman said that she had no problem serving gay people in her store, and that the law would have no effect on it anyway, but she wouldn’t cater a gay wedding if asked. It would go against her religious beliefs.
The proprietor answered a direct question that was presented to her by a member of the media. She was polite, soft-spoken, and honest.
See for yourself:
ABC57 News – See the Difference Michiana
Here was Marino’s original, libelous headline before it was changed, as shown in the URL:
This wasn’t true, but why let the facts get in the way of a good story?
Somehow, when filtered through social media and the mainstream media, this immediately became “FASCIST REDNECK PIZZA SHOP HATES GAYS, MUST BE DESTROYED!!!” Among the more pleasant responses was this one, from a high school teacher in nearby Goshen, IN:
Within 24 hours, Memories Pizza had shut down, and the proprietors were in hiding.
Howard Dukes, South Bend Tribune:
Charles Kulp, assistant chief of Walkerton Police Department, said the department responded to threats against the businesses by increasing their presence in the town’s business district. There was no trouble last night, according to Kulp…
He added that while the O’Connor family, owners of the Memories Pizza, 608 Roosevelt Road, want to reopen, they are unlikely to do so anytime soon due to threats against the business made on social media that have them worried about their safety.
“They would like to open but they are scared to do so and I am not sure if they are going to open,” Kulp said.
All because they honestly answered a hypothetical question posed by a reporter who walked into their place of business. They should have lied about their religious beliefs, so as not to incur the wrath of an angry mob.
This isn’t about pizza, or gay rights, or even religious freedom. This is about dissent being squashed in the United States of America in 2015. If you express the “wrong” opinion to the wrong person and it gets out on the Internet, your business can be destroyed and you can be driven into hiding.
The social-justice bullies of the modern left got what they wanted. Gay marriage is legal in Indiana. But that’s not enough. Nothing will ever be enough, because they need to think of themselves as victims. That’s their whole identity. So, they have to go to greater and more ridiculous lengths to target and destroy their “oppressors.”
Like, um, a small pizzeria in a town you’ve never heard of before.
These days, you don’t even have to do anything to be targeted by these fascists. Nobody walked into that place and asked them to cater a gay wedding. The proprietor merely gave an answer that her moral, ethical, and intellectual betters didn’t like. For that sin, they set out to destroy her.
A few geniuses are actually claiming that this is an example of market forces at work. Libel, doxxing, identity theft, threats of arson and murder… these are all now market forces?
No, here’s an example of market forces at work. Rachel Stoltzfoos reports:
A fund set up to help the Indiana pizza shop under fire for its owner’s stated refusal to cater gay weddings has garnered nearly more than six figures in 16 hours.
More than 3,000 people had donated $100,000 (and counting) as of Thursday morning through a gofundme page set up by Lawrence Billy Jones III, an investigative reporter for radio host Dana Loesch, “to relieve the financial loss endured by the proprietors’ stand for faith.”
Here’s the GoFundMe page. As of the time I clicked Publish on this post, it had gone over $150,000.
Donate if you want, or don’t. Either way, understand this: People aren’t just supporting a small business that’s in trouble. They’re rejecting the tactics of a hostile left-wing mob. They’re standing up for the right to express their beliefs.
They’re reminding you that this is still America. For now.
Exit question for gay-marriage enthusiasts: If you’re so sure you’re right, if your stance is so strong, why do you feel the need to destroy anybody who so much as dissents from it?
Update: Burn Her! She Would Act Like a Witch in a Situation That Will Never Come Up!
Update:
Indiana Democrat State Senator Jim Arnold condemns constituents’ religious beliefs, threatens their business: http://t.co/gQbu9uImq9
— Jim Treacher (@jtLOL) April 2, 2015