The shift in "social justice"

The expression used to mean a better deal for ordinary Americans, understood in general welfarist terms.

More "social democracy," as one might say, today.

Then it came to include the civil rights agenda, expanded to include elimination of disparities of income, education, power, and welfare as between whites and blacks.

"Racial justice," as that agenda was commonly named by its partisans.

Then it came to include the sexual revolutionary agendas of feminism and pressure groups representing every form of sexual perversion and outlawry not involving coercion or violence, barring only pedophilia.

And now, at least when used by its enemies, it means all of these things except the original, economic agenda.

Which is not to say the Mayor is not a "social justice bully."

She is all of that, and her methods display the sort of frightening, extremist contempt for institutions and the political process that we see far too much of on all sides in our politics, today.

As to muzzling pastors in the pulpit in exchange for the tax exempt status of their churches and their salaries, both the muzzle and the exemptions are offenses against the first amendment, the first against free speech and the second against non-establishment.

The constant, conservative demand for the exemption without the muzzle is no more constitutionally acceptable than an opposite demand for the muzzle without the exemption.