A Montana Pastor Persecuted By @Realtors. Seriously.

The left is using private institutions to advance their intolerance.

One of the great threats to our democracy is the increasing illiberalism of parts of the left and right. I would argue much of the right’s illiberalism has come in response to the growing intolerance and illiberalism of the left.

First, what do I mean by illiberalism? In large part, I mean a lack of free and open society that tolerates each other’s differences in civil society. The left has now taken to using private sector businesses to advance their agenda in ways the government cannot. The right is responding by trying to use the government to shut down the private sector businesses doing the left’s agenda. That, in turn, paves the way for the left to use the government to shut down the right using the right’s own precedents.

The left has worked for some time to insert itself into private institutions and trade associations, which in turn have embraced the left’s woke agenda. From “diversity, equity, and inclusion” programs to the LGBTQ+ Alphabet Gang agenda, private organizations are doing the bidding of the left in ways the government cannot constitutionally do and cannot constitutionally block the private sector from doing.

It has been a smart strategy because the constitution allows people to associate freely with others. So if a private group sets a standard for membership, the government has very little power to stop that standard.

Where the right comes in now is trying to force the government to force private groups to open their doors to dissent. As much as the left is getting private businesses to behave illiberally to exclude people based on unacceptable, unwoke beliefs, the right is illiberally trying to use the government to force the businesses to include those the left wants to be excluded.

It is the policy equivalent of the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object. The only way for this to end without a cataclysmic fallout is for the left, and yes it must be the left, to agree that people should not be forced to give up their religious and cultural views to participate in American businesses and trade associations. It must be the left, because the right’s illiberalism comes in response to the illiberal left imposing its will through non-governmental institutions like businesses and trade associations.

To make the academic applicable, you need to know about Brandon Huber. Huber is a pastor in Clinton, MT, at Clinton Community Church. For years, the church has partnered with the Missoula Food Bank to help feed the hungry in a “Kids Eat Free” program. But the Food Bank has started spreading leaflets around to the kids at lunch promoting the Alphabet Gang’s agenda.

The Clinton Community Church is a biblically orthodox Christian church. Its views are the mainstream of Christianity that homosexuality is a sin and churches should not promote it or the agenda related thereto. As a result, the church decided it had to stop helping the Food Bank. The church announced that the Food Bank was participating in advocacy against the church’s doctrine and the church would start its own program to help feed the hungry.

Unfortunately for Brandon Huber, he supplements his church income as a realtor.

A citizen of Clinton, MT filed a complaint with the Grievance Committee of the Missoula Organization of Realtors. The left has pushed the National Association of Realtors to adopt a provision of its ethics code against hate speech.

The ethics code makes clear the National Association of Realtors will now police the behavior of realtors outside their work and into their personal lives. And the National Association of Realtors believes orthodox Christian religious beliefs are hate speech.

Consequently, one cannot be a member of a Realtors Association and also be a practicing Christian who openly advocates for Biblical sexual ethics. Pastors, in particular, are the victims of illiberalism because if a pastor and his church, like Brandon Huber, steer their church to uphold orthodox church doctrine, the pastor can be punished.

In Brandon Huber’s case, he could be fined $5000.00 and will have to attend an ethics hearing to decide the matter. He could also be booted from the association. While that won’t affect his realtor’s license, it will affect his ability to partner with a realty firm in the area and his access to the MLS.

It would, in other words, make it practically impossible to be a realtor even if not legally impossible. Huber has filed a lawsuit as a result.

The real world implications here are pretty significant. If the left insists people give up their worldview to participate in the private sector, the right is going to destroy the private sector. The left will be just fine with that. But it won’t end well for anyone. If we cannot all mutually tolerate each other’s views, we cannot remain united States. Together, the illiberal left and right will burn it all down.

The National Association of Realtors knew pastors and people of faith could be targeted by their hate speech code. A lot of public discussion revolved around that at the time they enacted it. But the association proceeded anyway and now, as so many predicted, Christians are being targeted for punishment by the wokes. It was all foreseeable, predictable, and they did it anyway because more and more trade associations have embraced Woke-O Haram.