Don't close the American mind: there is nothing' open-minded' about using government to punish disfavored views.

• Author: Welch, Matt

Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. What comes to mind if you think about the word open?

It's probably a nice vision, right? A sweeping vista.The patio of a restaurant in Santa Barbara at sunset. A river that turns a final comer before pouring into the sea.

The vibes are no less congenial when applying the word more metaphorically. "Open your heart to me," Madonna promised, and "I'll give you love, if you turn the key." This contrast between openness and a prison-like alternative is a recurring motif. In The Open Society and Its Enemies, the Austrian philosopher of science Karl Popper posited that the free and vigorous exchange of ideas was the antithesis to, and antidote for, authoritarianism and totalitarianism.

One of the great complimentary adjectives in the postwar American lexicon has been open-minded. Like its kissing cousin free-thinker, this hyphenated exuberant suggests a dash of unpredictable sophistication, an attractive eagerness to try, accept, or at least tolerate unorthodox modes of behavior, conversation, and being.

Free thought is necessary to improve or surpass flawed but dominant ideas; open minds are needed to embrace the results. In 1776, monarchies outnumbered constitutional republics by several score to one (tiny San Marino), but that didn't stop the founding generation from willing an exemplar into existence. Ending the military draft and deregulating airlines (or "opening up" the skies) were libertarian pipe dreams in the 1960s and the law of the land by 197J. From Jesus to Galileo, Henry Miller to Bill James, prophets and pioneers are often greeted like heretics. It takes an open society, or at least an open subculture or two within it, to let their once-radical visions compete in the marketplace of ideas.

Gay people and gay rights activists should be among the first to recognize the critical link between open-mindedness and ending discrimination. It's difficult to fathom in this historic year of 2015, when the Supreme Court may be on the verge of legalizing gay marriage nationwide, but gay rights advocates were almost hopelessly outnumbered in living memory. For decades, just about the only glimmer of hope came not from courtrooms but in the arena of public debate.

As Jonathan Rauch wrote in the December 2013 reason, "Gay Americans were forbidden to work for the government; forbidden to obtain security clearances; forbidden to serve in the military. They were arrested for making love, even in their own homes...