A Google map is now at the center of a politically charged argument pitting Proposition 8 supporters against gay rights activists. Prop 8, won by a narrow margin in November and eliminated the right for same-sex couples to marry in California.

Glide your mouse over the pinpoints on the map and you can find not only supporters who contributed more than $100 to Prop 8, but also their addresses and employers.

Thanks to Google technology, you can use the satellite feature and zoom in on the layout of campaign donors’ land and access the quickest route through their neighborhoods.

After combing this map, activists encouraged by gay rights Web sites have been harassing individuals who have donated to the Prop 8 campaign. Death threats, physical violence, vandalism and harassing phone calls have been reported.

A lawsuit advocated by the Pro-Prop 8 group Protect Marriage has been filed in a Sacramento Federal District court asking for a preliminary injunction of the state election law requiring folks that donate more than $100 to reveal their personal information.

Though donor records have been in the public domain for years, this new application of technology makes it too easy for anyone with a grudge to seek and destroy those they do not agree with.

One victim of this vigilante justice came home to find his neighborhood littered with fliers advertising him as a bigot.

Another casualty of the list is Richard Raddon, who resigned as director of the Los Angeles Film Festival, which is sponsored by Film Independent, an organization whose explicit mission is to promote diversity in film.

Raddon is a member of the Mormon Church that actively campaigned for donations to pass Prop 8. His devotion to his church cost him his job.

Outrage over seemingly hypocritical CEO’s like Raddon and outed donor Alan Stock, head of Cinemark theatres, which promoted films like “Brokeback Mountain” and “Milk” is justifiable. What a terrible irony that executives who promote gay causes lead such ambivalent lives.

But violence is not the answer and when you intrude on someone else’s rights, it does not make you or your cause virtuous.

While Raddon and Stock’s organizations may deserve to be boycotted for their sizeable donations, individuals that back causes with smaller donations should not be included in the reign of terror.

“The cost of transparency cannot be discouragement of people’s participation in the process,” said James Bopp Jr., the lawyer who filed the lawsuit of behalf of Protect Marriage. “The highest value in the First Amendment is speech, and some amorphous idea about transparency cannot be used to subvert those rights.”

Google provides the tool that enhances discouragement. Influencing people is one thing, but bullying them is unacceptable and against the law.