"It can't happen here"

Despite my self-imposed general ban on politics, I do write often about freedom of speech and freedom of religion, those priceless rights we've been given and for which we have an obligation to pass on unhindered to the generations that follow us.  These civil rights are  a legacy that belongs to all of us; they transcends political differences.

Jonathan Strong writing in the American Thinker is troubled by the same Human Rights Regression that bothers me.

Canadian author Mark Steyn has warned in his book, American Alone, that the West faces major civilizational threats from a combination of it's declining birth rate and an influx of Muslim immigrants, many of whom do not share Western values, and some of whom are violently opposed to Western values.  Like Mr. Levant, Steyn too has been summoned to appear before the British Columbia Human Rights Commission (HRC) to answer before the thought police for portions of his book that were published in Maclean's magazine (Canada's largest weekly news magazine).
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These HRCs are dangerous (and illegitimate) because they defy hundreds of years of British legal tradition and history.  The British legacy of the rule of law is one of the greatest legacies of British culture in all of history.  Around the world in former colonies and protectorates, the traditions that stem from British courts often continue today even if those nations no longer consider themselves as part of the Commonwealth.  The defiance of history observed by the HRCs and plaintiffs against Steyn are exemplified by a brief review of the time tested legal principles of standing, evidence, and damages.
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There are also no rules of evidence.  There is no "proof" required, and hearsay abounds within a HRC trial.  The lack of evidentiary rules makes most lawyers cringe.  Everything, including the kitchen sink, can be included in a complaint for the HRC to examine without any fact finding, witnesses, or proof.  The HRC members will then determine what is admissible, important, and "true", which commonly means everything alleged.
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Steyn does not advocate violence or hatred, he writes to warn the west of the danger that looms because of an ideology that opposes to the values the West has held dear for hundreds of years: freedom of speech, equality of opportunity, the rule of law, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion. Steyn's book has warned us of the threats to our Western values, the law suit against him exemplifies that the threat is real and immediate.

Just in case you think 'Well, that's Canada. It couldn't happen here', look what happened to a student and janitor who was found guilty of "racial harassment" for reading a public library book on a university campus in Indiana.

My 'racial harassment'  nightmare

the $106,000-a-year affirmative-action officer who declared me guilty of "racial harassment" never spoke to me or examined the book. My own union - the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees - sent an obtuse shop steward to stifle my freedom to read. He told me, "You could be fired," that reading the book was "like bringing pornography to work."
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Affirmative Action Office of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis from branding me as a detestable Klansman.
They didn't want to hear the truth. The office ruled that my "repeatedly reading the book . . . constitutes racial harassment in that you demonstrated disdain and insensitivity to your co-workers."
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After months of stonewalling, the university withdrew the charge, thanks to pressure from the press, the American Civil Liberties Union and a group called the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, or FIRE.

Let me be clear: I don't view this episode as a black-against-white or conservative-vs.-liberal issue. It's a basic civil-liberties issue.
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The unchecked power of such campus bureaucrats needs to be restrained. And if a union like AFSCME won't protect its workers' constitutional rights, it should go out of business.
If they can stop me from reading one book, then they can stop any American from reading any book.

The book incidentally, not that it should matter, was Todd Tucker's "Notre Dame vs. the Klan: How the Fighting Irish Defeated the Klu Klux Klan.

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty" is often quoted though no one knows who first said it.  Don't be tempted to think that the freedom of not being offended in any way rises to the importance of freedom of speech and religion.