Series: STREAMING God's Thoughts - Volume 1 – Issue 2
Area: Internet
Time to Read: 5 minutes
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” — Joshua 1:9
Imagine if your values and beliefs put your job in jeopardy? Would you hesitate to make them known? If it put your livelihood at risk, would you tend to keep your faith private? What if donating to a conservative cause meant that you would be verbally attacked, and protestors would call for a boycott of a company you cofounded? Would you go ahead and donate publicly? Privately?
For Brendan Eich these are not hypothetical questions. A well-known pioneer in the tech industry, Eich worked for Netscape in 1995 where he created the JavaScript programming language which allowed websites to break away from static pages and come alive with interactive content. He later cofounded Mozilla, developers of the Firefox web browser, and was made the CTO.
In 2008 Brendan Eich made a $1,000 donation to Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in the state of California until it was struck down by the Supreme Court in June. When this became known activist set out to punish him for his Biblical view of marriage and to ultimately destroy his career. In 2014 Eich was appointed CEO of Mozilla. This was too much for the LGBT activists to handle. For the next round of attacks, they found an ally in OkCupid.com, a popular online dating site. OkCupid.com called for a boycott of Mozilla Firefox. Eich was CEO for 11 short days before deciding that he could no longer be an effective leader under these circumstances. In his mind there was no other choice but to resign.
In an attempt to appease his opponents Brendan Eich expressed his sorrow for any pain that he caused. Apologizing however is only seen as blood in the water in the eyes of the progressive community as they continue to attack their conservative victims with a viscous hatred. In the weeks leading up to his resignation Eich refused to come out in favor of gay marriage. In 2016 he cofounded Brave Software, the company responsible for the privacy focused web browser called Brave. Ironically, instead of destroying Eich they actually prompted the creation of the best web browser available today. In February Brave passed 25 million monthly active users. Pretty good for a young browser in a competitive market.
Other than being a technical wizard and entrepreneur Eich does not fit the Silicon Valley mold, and that is a good thing. I do wonder however if he could have taken a more active, rather than passive, stand when speaking of his reasoning to defend marriage through political donations. If in fact his convictions were based on the Bible, did he miss a great opportunity to be a voice of truth? Before I judge him too harshly though I think of how much easier it is for me to take a stand in the Bible Belt than a prominent figure living on the West Coast.
On the other hand, I think of people like Dan Cathy, CEO of Chick-fil-A, who has been a strong support of family values and Biblical Marriage. Despite the attacks by LGBT activists his business has thrived. He makes no attempt to hide his Christian faith despite any risk it may have on his business and his family fortune. It’s people like him that are truly Brave.
There is a cost to being a follower of Christ in this world. Are you and I willing to pay it? It is important for us to remember the words of Jesus in Luke 14.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. -Luke 14:27
Silicon Valley's Christians
I want to wrap up this article with an excerpt from an article I came across a while back called “How to Talk about God in Silicon Valley.” It reminds us of what it looks like to live in post-Christian America.
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Silicon Valley’s Christians describe life as an uneasy negotiation, between expressing their faith as called for by the Bible and integrating themselves into secular workplaces where religion is viewed, at best, as an anachronistic curiosity, and at worst, as a malevolent force.
I spoke with Christians working at some of tech’s biggest companies and at small startups. None says they’ve experienced overt hostility, and most find their colleagues welcoming and curious. Yet they also feel wary, with a sense that their beliefs cast them as outsiders, and that one false move could invite derision or worse.
Jesus admonished his followers not to hide their light, yet many Christians I spoke with admitted to being cowed by the Bay Area’s progressive, technocratic monoculture.
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It goes on to give a interesting perspective…
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Christians tend to do better as the underdog, anyway, Burns says. The early church of Paul was an insurgent, taking on the power of Rome. It’s only when Christianity was endorsed by the state that its troubles began. It’s more rewarding to be outsiders, Burns says. “I haven’t done it for that long,” he says, “but it’s fun.”
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In Brave Part 2 we will talk about why you might want to start using the Brave browser as well as other ways to protect your privacy online.
You can download Brave today at https://brave.com
Until next time be Brave and we will keep STREAMING God’s Thoughts.