“Christians should not cower to the new intolerance.”

These were the words of Mary Eberstadt, senior fellow for the Ethics and Public Policy Center, as she addressed a Washington, D.C. audience.

Eberstadt said that the new intolerance “is not an intellectual or philosophical force. In fact, it’s hardly about ideas at all. It is instead something very specific, taken from playbooks that nobody should be proud of studying. It’s about using intimidation, humiliation, censorship, and self-censorship to punish those who think differently.”

Eberstadt said the new intolerance is a serious threat to the church and is already causing divisions because it focuses on the desire to be loved and also to avoid being criticized for the choices made in life.

The end goal of the new intolerance is to get Christians to self-censor, Eberstadt said.  This keeps Christians from speaking the truth of Christ’s teachings because someone might feel badly and “not loved” if they choose to do something that opposes Christ.