The effort to shut down a mainstream conservative conference in Brussels last week shows partisan censorship is a serious and mounting problem in the West. Although the attempted cancellation failed—thanks to a legal challenge supported by ADF International, the faith-based legal advocacy organization I lead—it is part of a broader, deeply concerning trend.
Take, for example, the news on Friday that the “hate speech” prosecution of former Finnish interior minister Dr. Päivi Räsänen for tweeting Bible verses will be appealed to the country’s Supreme Court. Räsänen has already been unanimously acquitted by two courts, but the ideologically driven effort to punish her for her Christian views continues into its fifth year. Her steadfast response of standing by her faith in the face of this ordeal is a lesson in how to respond to cancel culture: with fortitude.
Meet Tyranny With Courage
The NatCon episode last week is another example of the necessity of fortitude in the face of tyranny. When the mayor of a small district in Brussels attempted to shut down a major gathering of conservative leaders last Tuesday, the international outcry was immediate.
All eyes were on the European Union capital as the freedoms of speech and assembly hung in the balance. Twelve hours later, the conference was back on by court order, all because a brave group of people were willing to stand up and say, “No, we won’t accept that. It’s not right.” But it’s unthinkable that an emergency legal challenge had to be mounted to
