While Mr. Lawler is theoretically correct, most Catholics are at the mercy of their employers and a complicit society. Sharp public "attacks" will guarantee a united and overwhelming counter-assault against every aspect of the Catholic speaker's life. They will go after your job and make you lose it. They will go after your children and push the authorities to take them away. They will go after your family and relatives, harassing and threatening them. They will ruin any small-business you have, one way or the other.

Many people are vulnerable, so let's have some small compassion for their reluctant silence.