Do you think that Supreme Justice Samuel Alito's opinion: "I assume that those who cling to old beliefs will be able to whisper their thoughts in the recesses of their homes, but if they repeat those views in public, they will risk being labeled as bigots and treated as such by governments, employers, and schools" is more applicable to gay marriage or the Confederate flag?

Gay marriage.
No. People being the people they are, are usually comfortable in their beliefs and are not prone to change their opinions randomly. Better to be strong and wrong than thoughtful and wishy-washy.

Of course if our private conversations are torn apart and studied, we will one and all be found guilty of bigotry by SOMEONE.

The statement is about same-sex marriage.

Isn’t that exactly what LGBT and other oppressed groups have been doing for, what, ever? Alito’s statement sounds as if we are now going to force bigots and bigotry against all groups (whether that be sexuality, gender identity, race, religion, age, politics) into the closet, or else have labels applied to them (bigots) by society that indicate exactly what they are.

In other words, will we call a spade a spade?

I think what is more telling, however, is the following excerpt from the same dissent:

“In the course of its opinion, the majority compares traditional marriage laws to laws that denied equal treatment for African-Americans and women…The implications of this analogy will be exploited by those who are determined to stamp out every vestige of dissent.”
Italics mine for emphasis.

This is the statement that broadens the application of the dissent to include racism as well, and by extrapolation, to the Confederate flag.

@Yetanotheruser Excellent analysis.

Clearly, Justice Alito is referring to gay marriage in his screed.

This leaves me wondering: why are Conservative Republicans (including Chief Justice Roberts & Associate Justices Alito & Scalia) sounding so personally threatened by the legalization of gay marriage? What are they desperately trying to hide (besides their innate bigotry?)

At the risk of promoting a stereotype, “they” are upset because it doesn’t fit into their stereotype of what ‘Merica should be.

@stanleybmanly I am bigoted against bigotry!

My guess was gay marriage, and I see from answers above that’s the case.

The confederate flag thing is more tricky, because so many people who aren’t racist want to be able to wave that flag. They feel it’s about southern pride. Liking the flag isn’t really denying another person their rights (although you could argue it interferes with some people being able to feel truly equal or safe) while same sex marriage is a matter of denying a specific group the right to marry, which denies them equality, basically denies them equal protection under the law.

The thing is, I don’t even see the point of the confederate flag. I live in Tennessee, and see it often, but it’s just dumb. Waving a flag of a country that no longer exists that lost a war with the current country we currently live in is pointless. The confederates lost, and alot of people you ask who have a flag do not agree with the beliefs of the confederates. In the end though, the main reason it was banned was that it was being flown over official government buildings (Alabama) and that’s not really respectful. I mean it’s technically another countries flag, and waving it at an American government office isn’t right. Sorry for the rant