California Demands That Christians Evolve

By Brent Bozell and Tim Graham California has a hallowed but questionable reputation as being the birthplace of the radical Free Speech Movement on the University of California Berkeley campus. Today theyre not just shutting down conservative speakers on the campus. The states Democrats may pass a law to shut down religious speech and create a statewide LGBT safe space. Theres a new legislative proposal banning all conversion therapy as a fraudulent business practice -- by not just mental health providers but anyone. Since the independent fact-checkers are quick to swarm around conservative misinformation FactCheck.org PolitiFact and Snopes have all cried False at the idea that this bill is a threat to the sale of the Bible. They declared that a threat against Bible sales is nowhere in the text of California Assembly Bill 2943 offered by gay assembly member Evan Low. That is correct ... on its face. It doesnt mention the Bible. However the bill would amend the state Consumer Legal Remedies Act adding the ability to sue for damages for advertising offering to engage in or engaging in sexual orientation change efforts with an individual. Any efforts to change someones sexual orientation in a transaction intended to result or that results in the sale or lease of goods or services to any consumer are unlawful. Thats more than therapy. Its any kind of an argument. Conservative and Christian lawyers see this proposal as dangerously broad. In National Review David French called it a dramatic infringement on First Amendment rights. He was alarmed at the language that defines newly unlawful sexual orientation change efforts as including efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same sex. We know whose expression this bill is designed to curtail. Leftist legislators were not subtle. One assembly member spouted that it is time for legislation to nudge the faith community to evolve with the times. In rating the claim of a threat against Bible sales Mostly False PolitiFact dismissively said: If the law had any impact at all it would be on those occasions when a Bible is sold in conjunction with a program to change someones sexual orientation ... with millions of Bibles sold in California the weight of evidence suggests the bill might only touch a fraction of them. So if a fraction of conservative Christians get sued for selling the Bible or similar books will the fact-checkers apologize ... after the bill gets signed and becomes law? Its risky for fact-checkers to make bold claims of True or False when people make predictions during policy debates. Their crystal ball evaluations seem largely designed to correct (read: intimidate) conservatives from making predictions about the future. What happens when predictions come true? This one-sided fact-checking goes back to 1992 when liberal journalists suggested then-President George H.W. Bush was lying when he predicted that Bill Clinton would raise taxes. Clinton was elected and the next year he signed the largest tax hike in American history. Fact-checkers also threw flags when conservatives charged that insurance premiums were skyrocketing under Obamacare. PolitiFact decided that the 2013 Lie of the Year was then-President Obamas proclamation that If you like your health care plan you can keep it under Obamacare. But in 2009 and 2012 it rated the statement Half True. Oops. Now imagine that instead of California allowing gay activists to sue for damages over any echo of conversion therapy it allows consumers who lost their insurance plan under Obamacare to sue it for fraudulent fact-checking. Its unlikely the fact-checkers would rush to defend it. They would see it as ... a dramatic infringement on First Amendment rights.