We are not surprised to hear that political freedom in the world has declined for a fifth straight year, especially in the Middle East and in North Africa. But loss of freedom in the West does surprise us. Freedom has shrunk partly because of silencing "hate speech." Is the "climate of hate" warming or cooling here at home? No matter what the world says and no matter what consequences await us, we must speak the name and truth of Jesus for all to hear.

The recently disenfranchised lame duck Left pulled off its most extreme legislative coup thus far, by homosexualizing the United States military—using their own version of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. They did not ask, in a Pentagon poll, if repeal was morally appropriate. They asked whether, in practice, the implementation plan would work. By including those with “mixed feelings,” they manufactured a 70% majority By not really asking, the ideological politicians prevailed.

Since the 1960s, the Southern Poverty Law Center has served as a self-appointed watchdog to track hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Aryan Nation. Though its efforts have doubtless been helpful in certain areas, the SPLC’s recent (November 24, 2010) list now includes as "hate groups" thirteen upstanding Christian organizations, accused of propagating “known falsehoods” about gays and lesbians. Is this political posturing, personal animus from a lunatic fringe, or an escalation of the conflict between two irreconcilable worldviews, both of which claim the right to be heard in the public square?