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Opinion

Moral Extortion: Taking A Look A The Left’s Twisted Tactics

I came across this phrase “moral extortion” in a column by Kurt Schlichter in Townhall .com a couple weeks back. I can’t remember the exact day, but it was the kind of phrase that just leaped out as one of those proverbial “hit the nail on the head” moments of pure accuracy when describing liberal attitudes.

By definition, extortion is: “the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.” The legal definition of extortion varies only slightly. It means “…the obtaining of property from another induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened force…under common law, extortion is a misdemeanor, of an unlawful taking of money by a government officer.”

So, exactly what would constitute “moral extortion”?

Consider this. At one time or another, most of us have probably heard the phrase “taking the moral high ground”. And most of the time, that phrase is used rather sarcastically against someone exhibiting anything but morals, but who is posing as the arbiter of all that is good, right and even Godly…in any given situation. There are several applicable words such as hyperbolic, hypocrite, sanctimonious, narcissistic, etc. that could be used to describe such a person and their intentions. “Liberal”, however, seems to be the best.

This is where it gets, sadly, somewhat entertaining to start considering what moral extortion means in liberal land. They think that by using this method of extortion, they can get us deplorables to give in, acquiesce, even unconditionally surrender to their will for our lives. They couldn’t be more wrong, but here are several ways in which liberals use moral extortion, or a form thereof, to try and prove they’re our “betters”.

The #MeTooMovement
This basically hit the common vernacular thanks to Harvey Weinstein. The “movement” morphed into a political rallying point for liberal women during the Kavanaugh hearings. Remember, ALL women should always be believed? Now that Crazy Uncle VP Biden has officially entered the 2020 Presidential race, look for his touchy-feely moments to be ignored. After all, he might be the one Dem who can give President Trump a hard time. Uncle Joe’s behavior will be completely swept away because of who he is.

Moral Equivalency
This is usually aimed at the various religions that liberals claim to understand, but don’t. To them, all matters of faith are the same. Let’s ignore the little inconvenient Arabic word taquiyya, which means deception. In Islam, it’s okay to deceive the infidels because it will make them lower their guard and not defend themselves. In short, Islam is a “faith” that allows, even promotes, lying. Yeah, that’s the equivalent of Christianity, isn’t it?

The concept of moral equivalency can also be applied outside of a religious context. All philosophical thought processes are the same, all forms of government are basically the same and all attendant organizations are the same. Except when it goes against the agenda. Then you really find out how tolerant and inclusive liberals really are.

Income Inequality
There is a lot of great literature out there to debunk this. The brilliant economist Dr. Thomas Sowell has written extensively on the subject. What I want to focus on here, though, are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ You might be familiar with the story of Christ being anointed with expensive oil by a woman. His disciples chastised Him by saying that it was wrong for her to do so; the oil could have been sold for a great price and the money given to the poor. Christ’s response was; “The poor you will always have with you.” (Mt. 26:6-13, Mark 14: 3-9; John 12:1-11)

The point here is that Christ Himself has said there will always be income inequality. It’s part of the human condition that not everyone is the same. Some folks have a natural entrepreneurial affinity; some are even born wealthy; most are not. The United States is the one place where, if you work hard, you still have a shot at making a success out of yourself. If….you work.

Socialism/communism has always tried to level the playing field. It has failed at every attempt. While the “tippy-top” elites in charge seem to do well, the rest don’t. Read history. Liberals are always trying to guilt trip those of us willing to work into thinking any success, even middle class success, is wrong because there are those who haven’t achieved that. Go back and read the aforementioned definitions of extortion.

The Two-Tiered Justice System
Once again, you could write a great deal about our justice system. Empirically, right now in the current news cycle, we have the best example of this. Collusion? Obstruction of justice? Against President Trump? What about Hillary? And, just for the fun of it, what about the Smolette case? Here’s a guy who is able to check all the correct identity politics boxes for the social justice crowd: He’s gay; he’s black; he’s an actor; plus this happened in Chicago. And because of all that, he manages to successfully orchestrate what is obviously a hoax. And, he get’s off with no charges. What better empirical example do you need? Pure extortion based on identity politics.

The Abortion Issue
When you have someone like Stacy Abrams saying that it’s evil not to allow abortion, and you have Chelsea SpawnOfClinton saying it’s “unChristian” not to allow abortion, you have examples of liberals trying to hijack a religious viewpoint for something pure evil. They are trying to use a highly emotional issue as extortion to tear away the fact that abortion involves the life of a baby…a human being.

Endless Apologizing
Our current era of history is often referred to as the Information Age. That is incorrect. It would be more appropriate to call it The Apology Age. This pretty much started with the first Barak Hussein Obama term when he did his world tour, featuring his greatest hit, Apologize for America. — It’s only gotten worse since then. — Even though he’s (thankfully) out of office, the hits just keep on comin’. No one is allowed to say anything, about anything, at any time, for any reason, because some snowflake will be offended.

In the Epistle of James, we find this: “Let your yea be yea, and your nay be nay, lest ye fall into condemnation.” (5:12) Taken in context, this verse refers to swearing an oath. A generalized interpretation, though, is straightforwardly meaning what you say and sticking to it. Careful what you say, but mean what you say and stand by it.

That’s no longer the case for a lot of people. If you’re conservative (or even the occasional liberal who goes off the plantation…) and you utter anything that goes against today’s pre-approved narrative, the thought police will hunt you down via social media scolding. Apologies can and will be accepted…no…demanded.

You know what, though? Time for all conservatives to grow a pair and tell the thought police in all their forms that we no longer give an airborne copulation what they think. I will say what I have to say, regardless of how much time I spend in FB jail (I just did my first stint…won’t be the last), or through any other medium of expression that I care to use. While we still have freedom of speech, I will not be morally extorted to shut up.

In closing, keep empirically paying attention to how the liberals want to extort you emotionally and morally. Use facts, history, and logic…even though it’s hard when dealing with a liberal.

Thanks for your indulgence.

John DeGroff

John DeGroff is the original bass player for the Christian rock band Petra. He currently plays for the band GHF which is comprised of other original members from Petra. DeGroff has extensive experience as a freelance music journalist and newspaper reporter as well as an on-line music reviewer. He is a member of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and lives in Warsaw, Indiana where he is employed as a care giver for mentally challenged adults.

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