There's something so primal and grotesque about a mob and perhaps that's what makes them so fascinating. When humans, who have organized themselves into a civilization with laws and morals and basic decency, collectively (often in a single moment) descend and become an animalistic force - consumed only with the basic instincts: survival, lust, or prey. The man becomes savage and will do things that he would never be able to stomach - or at least have the balls for - in isolation. It must be the lack of accountability.
That's one of the reasons I love disaster movies. The good ones always have an element of this and it adds to the tension and makes the audience more invested in whatever the heroes are going through.
Our hero, in this case, was Bendan Eich, and the mob struck again in America. Fare thee well, Brendan. Honestly, I'm glad the mob went after you instead of another. As Commissioner Gordon said, "Because [you] can take it." It wasn't right and it hurts, but imagine that they actually persecuted people based on who supported the law in greater proportion (read: black people or the middle-class)? I guess they didn't have enough dildo-shaped pitchforks to go around.
Bill Maher said something about a gay mafia in America and crossing them gets you whacked. Sorry, Bill, but it's not a mafia of gays - it's a mob of gays. There's a big difference. These people don't do their jobs in the back alleys using professionals. They incite their foolish followers and then drag your corpse to the center of the public square to spit on it. In such a large group, they might as well all be in ski masks. Regardless of their gender or sexual preference, I think I can safely call them all pussies.
A quick note to those who take this case to the extreme: should we not be able to shun neo-Nazi's? If someone expresses love of Marxism*, is it similarly disconcerting for people to organize boycotts and see that person lose his livelihood because of his personal views?
To these people I answer I do not know. I do know a few things, however: a free and stable society should not be subject to the whims of mob mentality. I would also think that in expressing the view that this mob of homosexualists was in the wrong in their crusade, I am not required to outline some kind of overarching philosophy that answers this question for every hypothetical. If we pursue the better sides of our natures, namely the ones that provide rational thought, these answers might reveal themselves. Of course, truth be told, I have never had much faith in most of humanity in this department.
And to those who champion these events as some kind of victory for free expression or (God forbid) the First Amendment, I would ask this: is this the kind of society you were hoping for? Is this your ideal civilization? For defending his own sense of morality according to his own gods, you ran a man from the public square, followed him home, and razed his house. That's what we wish America to be, huh? Good to know.
*Yes, I know our society is full of these people and there was once a time when they would actually face social stigmatization.
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