Americans are in danger and it’s kind of complicated so please stay with me here. Way back in 1722, an anonymous source who called himself “Silence Dogood” sent a newspaper editor a few opinions.  One of them simply said: “Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom.”

 

Mr. Silence Dogood was really Benjamin Franklin.  And he was just 16 years old when he wrote that.  Incredible.

 

Today, there are groups that are paid big money by private individuals and political action committees to attack freedom of thought by designing propaganda campaigns that aim to silence opposition. Through his “Open Society Foundation”, far left billionaire George Soros funds some of this but he is not alone. Millions of dollars from both left and right wing zealots flow to the assassins of wisdom, something that would have appalled young Benjamin Franklin.

 

Let’s look at a few examples.  If you believe abortion is morally wrong based upon a theological dictum that says only the Creator can alter life from conception to natural death, your belief is no longer respected. No, some will brand you a misogynist, a hater of women.  You may very well be shunned as pro-life people were by the “Women’s March” organization.

 

If you believe in traditional marriage, again dictated by a religious tenet, you are “homophobic.”

 

Therefore, on some college campuses, your opinions will be shouted down because you violate “human rights.”

 

And in some areas you won’t even be able to buy a sandwich from Chick-fil-A because its founder believes in man-woman nuptials exclusively, as is his right under the Constitution.

 

It’s the same for global warming.  The fascist consulting groups are now saying that if you are at all skeptical of that, you are a “climate-change denier.”

 

This is particularly odious because the people who created that expression did so knowing that “holocaust denier” is a death brand all over the world.  If that sticks to a person, he or she is finished.

 

The propagandists know what they are doing and the press loves the branding.  It is provocative and hurts traditional people, something the media, in general, relishes.

 

Which brings us to the 14-year-old boy in Florida who was beaten by other children because he supports Donald Trump.  This is a stark warning to every thinking American.

 

That kind of violent action did not happen when Barack Obama was president even though there were strong feelings against him among some conservatives.  The malicious “birther” movement stemmed from that.

 

But the difference is that the press, academics, and responsible political leaders all rejected that hateful birther campaign.

 

Now, however, hate directed at President Trump is considered acceptable among many in the groups I just mentioned.  And the kids know it.

 

Freedom of thought doesn’t always lead to wisdom as Ben Franklin surely knew.  But lockstep rejection of different beliefs bolstered by loathsome propaganda does always lead to brutal tribalism.

 

The United States is headed down that road and we the people are in danger.

 

And only we the people can stop this by sending the fascists a message at voting time.