A cryptocurrency company has fired one of its employees for having committed the crime of publicly expressing support for the basic tenets of the Catholic faith, a move that’s raising concerns about the industry’s embrace of cancel culture.
Brantly Millegan was, until earlier this month, the director of operations at Ethereum Name Service (ENS), a cutting-edge tech entity that provides domain names and other services to nearly 300,000 cryptocurrency and “Web3” users. Web3 is the term programmers and others are using for their efforts to create a more “decentralized” and “fair” internet. Various political commentators have expressed doubt over Web3’s ability to live up to those standards.
Millegan was dismissed by ENS earlier this month after a mob on social media dug up a tweet he published nearly six years ago. Millegan, who has a master’s degree in theology and, in 2014, founded the Catholic website ChurchPOP.com, tweeted in 2016 that, “Homosexual acts are evil. Transgenderism doesn’t exist. Abortion is murder. Contraception is perversion. So is masturbation and porn.” Millegan was first hired at the company in January 2019.
In audio that’s since been posted to YouTube, Millegan, a veteran insider who held significant influence in the industry, can be heard calmly pointing out to colleagues that his beliefs are held by billions of people across the world. He also argued that those who are complaining about his tweet being “offensive” fail to recognize their own pro-LGBT views are offensive to Christians. Millegan doubled down on his stance by making light of his critics in a tweet published Feb. 5.
hey looks like I've got my first mob. nice to see some ppl finally read the first word of my bio. I love you all, I'm gonna keep working on web3
— brantly.eth (@BrantlyMillegan) February 6, 2022
Nick Johnson, the founder of ENS, informed employees in a statement earlier this month that it was “no longer tenable” to keep Millegan onboard. ”Many of you were hurt by Brantly’s comments over the past 24 hours, and we strongly believe that ENS should be an inclusive community,” Johnson said, failing to recognize the exclusionary nature of the firing. “Going forward we’ll continue to do everything we can to ensure that remains the case.”
Millegan’s Twitter account has since been suspended. Millegan clarified on the ENS website that he’s never refused to work with someone “because of who they are or what they believed.” He also said it’s not “practical or moral” for Web3 to “exclude many traditional-minded Christians, Muslims, Jews.”
Alpha News has attempted to contact Millegan for comment but as of the publication of this article has not received a response.
Stephen Kokx
Stephen Kokx, M.A., is a journalist for LifeSiteNews. He previously worked for the Archdiocese of Chicago under the late Francis Cardinal George. A former community college instructor, Stephen has written and spoken extensively about Catholic social teaching and politics. His essays have appeared in such outlets as Catholic Family News and CatholicVote.org.
