Every time I go to London, I visit the Tower of London and sit in the little room below grade level, where Thomas More spent his last months.  I am reminded often these days of Thomas More and King Henry VIII and the kerfuffle over Anne Boleyn.  More, you see, would not sign the oath and proclaim the legitimacy of the marriage of the king to Boleyn because of the inconvenient matter of Henry’s divorce from Catherine.  More, good lawyer that he was, determined that his safety resided in him saying nothing — keeping his mouth shut.  For a time, it was enough.

And then it wasn’t.  Only a statement affirming the marriage and the succession of children, if any, of the marriage would do.  And when his devout Catholic conscience would not permit him to assent to the marriage, he found himself convicted of treason and ended up with his head on a stake on London Bridge.

I am not concerned about ending up on a stake of a Chicago bridge, but I also find myself where silence is no longer permitted by the DIE fascists who control every one, it seems, of our institutions.  Compelled speech is the order, and I do mean order, of the day in every business endeavor.

And now it is June, and all institutions must proclaim their approval of and solidarity with the modern-day version of Henry’s ill begotten marriage — post the rainbow flag, everywhere and anywhere, or be considered a bigot.  On corporate websites, on email, on Facebook profiles, silence is no longer okay.  Only in-your-face, loud and thunderous approval of that to which you are indifferent or do not approve will be accepted.  And why?

The 2SLGBTQIA mob need your affirmation.  Like Henry, they know there are issues with the legitimacy of the current looniness that has taken over the gay world.  They need all of our affirmation.  Everywhere and always.

Why do I have to imprint logos showing solidarity?  Is it not enough for me to proclaim that for adults, "to each his own" is an organizing and acceptable principle?  Nope.  You have to approve.  Why?  Well, because everyone else is doing it.  And in this brave new world, where men can lactate and have babies, one is not permitted to desist or even remain silent.  Only full-throated approval is permitted, lest the nakedness of the emperor become obvious to all.  It is hard to imagine that this is where we are in America the first quarter of the 21st century. But we are.

I have recently had a manager of a mid-size company tell me the rainbow flag had to be on the company's website, proclaiming obeisance to the 2SLGBTQIA mob, or the company would not get a DIE certification from some accrediting agency I had never heard of, and if the company didn’t get it, then no one would want to work for it, nor would its large institutional clients give business.  It did not matter that this company had had gay and lesbian employees for many years, provided health insurance for domestic partners prior to the advent of gay "marriage," hired disadvantaged and sponsored little league and basketball teams for inner-city children for years.  Without the rainbow flag, its status was that of a bigot.  Its head might as well be on the stake with Thomas More, and life would be over.

Social credit from some lunatic you never heard of is going to determine your fitness to earn a living.  Really?  We are now all okay with this?  Are we living in China?

So I think of More these days, as I also think of myself as one whose head would just not look that good on that stake.  The quandary is real.  How do I keep my integrity and my business intact?  How can I allow myself to be forced to speak when I have no desire to speak and do not agree with the speech I am being required to make?  How, indeed.

On the other hand, I say to myself, this here is not the stuff of which martyrs are made.  I do not have to be on the front lines on this issue.  I’ve done that, and I continue to do so.  I fought for civil rights in this country; I fought for equal rights for gay people.  I stood up for civil liberties and freedom for all.  I did that because it was and is right.

But this is not right.  This, now, is about coercion, and I am not going to do this.  I cannot put my imprimatur, as uninfluential as it may be, on this craziness.

And then I open up my email to send a note to a colleague.  And there is the rainbow flag.  On my email.  Coming from me.  And now what?  What would Thomas More do?

Image via Max Pixel.