When you think about the censorship and outright banning of books and opinions, do you imagine the United States of America?

Or, more likely, does that kind of suppression strike you more as the tactics of communists or fascists that America has frequently fought against?

If liberal lawmakers in California get their way, that west coast state may be one step closer to being unrecognizable as part of the United States. A bill currently pending in the legislature would essentially ban the sale of books that include traditional Christian views on marriage and sexuality.

Shockingly, the proposed law could even be construed to make it illegal to sell Bibles, since they include verses that the far left finds unacceptable.

“Assembly Bill 2943 would make it an ‘unlawful business practice’ to engage in ‘a transaction intended to result or that results in the sale or lease of goods or services to any consumer’ that advertise, offer to engage in, or do engage in ‘sexual orientation change efforts with an individual,’” explained National Review.

That’s a lot of legalese to digest, so let’s break it down. What the bill basically says is that anything that can be seen as trying to impact a person’s sexual orientation would be illegal to sell or offer.

This would almost certainly include traditional Christian counseling services and books.

“The bill then defines ‘sexual orientation change efforts’ as ‘any practices that seek to change an individual’s sexual orientation. This includes efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions, or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same sex,” continued National Review (emphasis added).

“Efforts to change behaviors” is where the real problem is. After all, almost all counseling and even common psychiatric care are intended to “change behaviors” in various ways.

If you think about it, that’s the entire reason people seek help in the first place: They want to stop drinking or becoming angry or, yes, having troubling thoughts about their sexuality.

It’s also worth pointing out that the bill as written would apply to people who are trying to change their own behavior. This would mean that if a person was struggling with same-sex behavior or sexual identity and they themselves wanted to change, it would be illegal for them to buy any book meant to help them with this.

The problem here isn’t limited to Christian books. Bizarrely, the bill appears to put almost any counseling or psychiatric service in the cross-hairs.

For example, let’s say a man has the paraphilia of crossdressing or transvestism. For whatever reason, the person has become addicted to wearing women’s clothes and has found that showing up to work in high heels and a dress has a negative impact on his life.

RELATED: Alert: The California 3-State Split is a Massive Liberal Trojan Horse

Setting aside any personal judgment about this lifestyle choice (how liberal of us), suppose he voluntarily seeks counseling to get a handle on this problem. Maybe he just wants to stop being addicted to cross-dressing in public.

It’s his own choice. Yet counselors or books intended to help him would be illegal because they’re “efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions,” in the words of the proposed law.

You might consider that example silly, but this concern is rather serious: If passed, it could only be a matter of time before the law’s extremely vague wording is used against traditional Christian teachings in the Bible.

Take Romans 1:26-27, for instance. This verse calls out homosexuality as “shameful” and encourages Christians to not act in this way.

Then there are 1 Peter 1:15-17, Romans 6:1, and Ephesians 4:22-24, all of which direct followers of Christianity to abstain from homosexuality even if they have those desires.

Let’s be extremely clear: The point of this article is not to lecture about gay lifestyles. There are an increasing number of gay conservatives who have reached their own conclusions about their beliefs, and many are on the front lines of the culture war.

You don’t even have to particularly agree with the Bible verses mentioned here to see the problem. Efforts like the proposed bill represent dangerous slippery slopes that would use the legislature to attack traditional beliefs, and even mainstream views that happen to be at odds with the far-left agenda.

If nothing else, it’s an affront to the free exchange of ideas — yes, even ones that someone might dislike — and a censorship of speech.

“No one doubts that (Christianity’s) teachings on sexual morality are increasingly unpopular,” summarized National Review. “But they remain constitutionally protected, and no state legislature should be permitted to ban a ‘good’ (such as a book) or a ‘service’ (like counseling) that makes these arguments and provides them to willing, consenting consumers.”

It’s amazing that the same liberals who bemoan “government in the bedroom” eagerly jump at the chance to give the same government control over sexual and moral topics the moment it helps their cause.

Even non-Christians and political moderates need to fight against the new wave of suppression before a 21st-century iron curtain appears. Free speech is everyone’s fight.

What do you think? Scroll down to comment below!

The Democratic Party is looking to include reparations in their 2022 platform, along with Medicare for all United States residents, and free higher education that is fully paid for by American taxpayers.

In an exclusive report by the Washington Free Beacon, Democrats and liberal donors are pushing for an even further left agenda by 2022. That agenda was revealed during the Democracy Alliance’s latest conference called “Way to Win: 2022 Victory Party,” which featured guests such as the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, and Democratic Georgia candidate for governor, Stacey Abrams.

The Free Beacon noted that the invitation for the gathering read:

It’s 2022 and we are celebrating policy victories across the nation: Medicare for All and Free College, and next on the agenda is Reparations.

Because we’re governing with gusto, we’re seeing victories up and down the ballot—including winning a governorship in Texas and putting 38 electoral votes in grasp by 2024.

Stop in 2020 and 2019 when local power builders turned Arizona and Florida solidly blue and established Virginia as a progressive governance juggernaut.

The event was co-hosted by not only a slew of liberal organizations, like the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, but also the Center for Popular Democracy, an open borders lobbying organization funded by globalist left-wing billionaire George Soros.

As Breitbart News reported, the Soros-funded Center for Popular Democracy has been one of the leading voices in the U.S. for promoting illegal immigration within leftist political circles.

Border Patrol agents in the Laredo Sector arrested more than 190 Bangladeshi nationals who illegally crossed the border from Mexico into Texas since October 1, 2017. This number of illegal crossers from a country that many call a hotbed of terrorism is more that were arrested in all of Fiscal Year 2017, officials told Breitbart Texas on Thursday.

“When we talk about the different groups that are crossing into an area, what we’re trying to draw attention to is a more comprehensive look at our threat picture,” Acting Chief Patrol Agent Jason D. Owens told Breitbart Texas in an interview. “We need to stay away from just focusing on the family units and Unaccompanied Alien Children that are coming from Central America and Mexico. What the men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol are dealing with on a daily basis is so much more complex than that.”

Border Patrol agents in the sector Owens commands arrested 191 Bangladeshi nationals who crossed the border from Mexico into South Texas since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2018 in October, according to information provided to Breitbart Texas by Laredo Sector officials. During the entire FY 2017, Laredo Sector agents arrested only 181 Bangladeshi nationals, Chief Owens stated. During FY 2016, there was only one Bangladeshi arrested in the Laredo sector.

“You have to look not only at the numbers of folks coming across in our Area of Responsibility (AOR),” Owens explained, “but also, who they are and where they’re from because that very much affects how we meet the threat.”

“When you have countries like Bangladesh that have had potential ties to terrorism in the past — well, these folks that are coming from that country, what is their intent when they are crossing into the United States illegally?” the sector chief asked. “What is their ultimate destination, what is their goal?

Bangladesh has been described by many as a hotbed of terrorist activity. In March 2017, the British government issued a travel advisory to its citizen warning of potential terror attacks there. The warning cited several incidents of terrorist activity in the months leading up to the travel advisory’s issuance.

In 2016, CNN and The Economist spotlighted terrorist activity in Bangladesh. And, in February 2017, the Tony Blair’s Institute for Global Change wrote, “Bangladesh is alternately heralded as a beacon of tolerance and secularism in the Muslim-majority world or a hotbed of Islamist militancy.”

Border Patrol Agent Hector Garza, in his capacity as president of the National Border Patrol Council Local 2455, told Breitbart Texas the apprehension of these Bangladeshi nationals in the Laredo sector shows there is a “clear pipeline” from countries that are home to terrorists through Mexico and into the U.S.

“We have been lucky to catch these groups but there is no telling how many other people from countries that sponsor terrorism could be utilizing that same pipeline,” Agent Garza stated.

Laredo Sector Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Gabriel Acosta told Breitbart Texas on Thursday that the Bangladeshi nationals do not pick their point of entry into the U.S. “That is determined by the transnational criminal organization (TCO) that works with the smugglers from the country of origin, into South America, up through Central America and into Mexico,” Acosta explained. “They are paying upward of $27,000 each to be smuggled into the U.S.”

Acosta said the Bangladeshis are not trying to be sneaky in crossing the border nor are they trying to avoid detection and arrest. “They have been coached by the TCO on what to say and how to make a ‘credible fear’ claim,” he stated.

Acosta said the Bangladeshis typically begin their journey from their home country to Brazil. From their, they utilize nearly any form of transportation available. Those include planes, trains, boats, horses and even walking, he explained. Some of the people being smuggled pay their fee up front while others arrive in the U.S. in debt and have to work off the fees after they arrive at their destination.

Of the 191 Bangladeshi’s captured during the first half of FY 2018, 100 percent were males, mostly between the ages of 18-35.

FBI agents with the Joint Terrorism Task Force are notified each time a group of Bangladeshis are arrested. The agents conduct a throughout background check, biometric scan. The agents also check the names against the terrorist watch list.

Acosta said a “small number” of these checks resulted in finding “derogatory information.” He said this is most often an association with someone who is already designated as a person of interest.

Chief Owens said there have been incidents where some of the adult Bangladeshi males have attempted to present themselves as minors. “We have had incidents where some would attempt to present themselves as juveniles, or represent themselves as family units when in fact there is no blood relationship,” Owens stated. “The interviewers will try and bear that out as to whether or not it’s true.”

“Everybody that we encounter will get turned over to ICE ERO (Enforcement and Removal Operations),” Owens explained. “From there, their removal proceedings are handled by that agency after a hearing.”

Assistant Chief Acosta explained further. “Because of the ‘credible fear’ law and the coaching received by the Bangladeshis from the TCOs, ERO officers will issue a notice to appear for a future immigration hearing. “In many cases, we will never see them again,” he said.

The Laredo Sector chief said these Bangladeshis are a great example about why the U.S. needs to look differently at the border.

“For us, its important that when folks are looking at border security as an issue, that we look at the threat in a holistic fashion,” Owens explained. “Don’t just focus on the numbers of people coming across. You have to also look at what that makeup is and also who is responsible. Because that actually goes to the threat that not only exists along the border but into the interior as well.”

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX, GAB, and Facebook.

(Disclosure: Breitbart Texas sponsored the Green Line podcast for the NBPC in an effort to provide a platform for agents to inform the public about the realities on the border and what Border Patrol agents face. Director Brandon Darby received an award from the Laredo chapter of the NBPC for his work in helping to defend and bring a voice to Border Patrol agents. Breitbart News assisted in covering funeral costs for a slain Border Patrol agent previously.)