But then the religious right thrives on symbolic (if not totally imagined) victories as it continues to fan the flames of the so-called 'culture wars.' It is the symbolic that they use so craftily to line their waistpockets with the funds needed to launch more fundamental attacks on civil rights and freedom of religion. So defeating them on the symbolic battlefront is equally as important as dealing with them in the economic and political arenas.

I hope Target and Wal-Mart take note from this episode and similarly give the AFA and their freedom-hating ilk the shove. I don't believe for a moment that even the most socially enlightened of these companies are motivated by much more than business considerations. Corporations are not people and do not have souls or consciences, only instincts. But I do believe that these instincts can be trained and even channeled toward socially beneficial outcomes -- when executives and shareholders are forced to respond to the legitimate wants and needs of customers and employees.

Equal opportunity has proven to be good for business. And no Fortune 500 company really wants to be beholden to an extreme theocratic minority that wants to run this country (and its businesses) the way the mullahs run Iran. I'd say the right is overextending itself and ought to prepare for a backlash.

For further intelligent discussion on this issue see Michelle Goldberg's earlier post.