You know the world is in trouble when people go to a hockey game and a culture war breaks out. That’s what happened to Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov when he refused to participate in wearing a “Pride Night” hockey jersey bearing the rainbow flag or use a rainbow-taped hockey stick during warmups before the team’s game recently.

Provorov is a Russian Orthodox Christian who refused to compromise his religious beliefs. He told reporters he declined to participate “to stay true to myself and my religion.” He added, “I respect everyone. I respect everybody’s choices.” But it seems there are many who don’t respect his.

The Founders of this country came here to express their own religious freedom when the King of England wouldn’t tolerate their deviance from his choices. Now, over 300 years later, a Russian professional hockey player playing in America is being told he doesn’t have the freedom to express his own religious beliefs. He must comply with the beliefs of others.

This is so contrary to the ideals of America that even an American Orthodox Jew has come to his defense. Tal Fortgang, writing in The Wall Street Journal, says, “American pluralism is a glorious thing. Dedication to shared ideals and the commitment to living peacefully among compatriots of all colors and creeds can bring out the best in us. It unites people of all religions, national origins and other historical sources of division in defending our aspirations to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Yet that pluralism is in peril today, compelling me, an American Orthodox Jew, to defend Ivan Provorov, a Russian Orthodox Christian and professional hockey player.”

To his credit, Mr. Fortgang even admits he is a die-hard New York Rangers fan! Yet the injustice of Mr. Provorov’s treatment by the media, and many of the fans at the hockey game, was so outrageous he couldn’t remain silent.

The irony not lost on those fair-minded thinkers like Mr. Fortgang is that this event, called “Pride Night”, is part of the National Hockey League’s “Hockey Is for Everyone” campaign. Mr. Fortgang says the NHL is engaged in race, gender, and sexuality-based outreach in seemingly unassailable terms: All are welcome. But as religious Americans are aware, this seldom is the meaning. A message of ostensible tolerance – be whoever you want to be and live your truth – is hardly the gentle embrace of “love thy neighbor as thyself,” as the Bible has stated it. Instead, it is quiet coercion: Bake the cake. Wear the jersey. Bend the knee.

When Romans ruled the world, you complied or were crucified, or lost your head. Today, you suffer the persecution of the media and the culture warriors. Mr. Fortgang asks the question, “Why else has one man’s dissent stirred such outrage? The You Can Play Project, which aims “to ensure the safety and inclusion of all LGBTQ people in sports,” works with the NHL in its campaign. A You Can Play executive told ESPN that Mr. Provorov “negatively impacted” Pride Night. One hockey commentator tweeted that Provorov “obviously does not respect everyone,” because “if he did. . . he would have taken part in warm-up and worn the Pride Night jersey.”

Another commentator tweeted: “The Flyers should have responded by not allowing him to play in the game. . . Freedom of expression doesn’t give you freedom from the consequences of your words or actions.” Really? There must be consequences if you disagree with someone else because of your religious beliefs? This is England in 1620 all over again.

This intolerance by the left is liberalism turned on its head. The classical liberal ideology called for tolerance of everyone’s point of view. Today’s liberals are intolerant of anyone who disagrees with them. Unfortunately, the NHL, NBA, NFL, and others have become so tied to corporate interests that insist upon virtue signaling that the purity of sports as a form of entertainment has been lost in the shuffle, and religious freedom, along with basic rights of freedom of speech, have been trampled underneath by the crowd.

Bravo to Mr. Fortgang, for speaking out about this injustice! May there be others like him.