A superb essay by Jonathan Turley on the gradual demise of free speech in the West.
Excerpt:
Please read the whole thing. It's one of the best essays on free speech I've read in a while.
Turley is right to warn of the existential dangers to our civilization of restricting freedom of speech. It is deadly business-- what appear to be prudent constraints on 'hate' or 'discrimination' are really the means to define acceptable thought.
The only real protection we have against this creeping totalitarianism-- and that is what speech codes are-- is the reiteration of the fact that our rights are endowed by our Creator. They are not political compromises, brokered in a simpler time and to be negotiated away for the sake of social harmony.
We have the right to freedom of speech because we are spiritual beings with free will created by God in His image. If we forget or deny this, others will define our speech, and our ideas, for us.
Excerpt:
Free speech is dying in the Western world. While most people still enjoy considerable freedom of expression, this right, once a near-absolute, has become less defined and less dependable for those espousing controversial social, political or religious views. The decline of free speech has come not from any single blow but rather from thousands of paper cuts of well-intentioned exceptions designed to maintain social harmony...
Please read the whole thing. It's one of the best essays on free speech I've read in a while.
Turley is right to warn of the existential dangers to our civilization of restricting freedom of speech. It is deadly business-- what appear to be prudent constraints on 'hate' or 'discrimination' are really the means to define acceptable thought.
The only real protection we have against this creeping totalitarianism-- and that is what speech codes are-- is the reiteration of the fact that our rights are endowed by our Creator. They are not political compromises, brokered in a simpler time and to be negotiated away for the sake of social harmony.
We have the right to freedom of speech because we are spiritual beings with free will created by God in His image. If we forget or deny this, others will define our speech, and our ideas, for us.
Yes, it was a great essay. Some of your "liberal" commenters should read it so that they can learn what liberalism meant before it meant Marxism.
ReplyDeleteI may not agree with what you say, but I'll fight to the death to protect your right to say it. That used to be the bedrock of liberalism.
TRISH
"I may not agree with what you say, but I'll fight to the death to protect your right to say it. "
DeletePerhaps the biggest change in our attitude on free speech that I've seen is that so many people don't believe this anymore. I have the strong sense that an actual majority of our opponents would not defend our right to disagree with them.
I may not agree with what you say, but I'll fight to the death to protect your right to say it. That used to be the bedrock of liberalism.
DeleteStill is, as far as I'm concerned. It's the religious folks that block attempts to get blasphemy laws off the books. Not liberals.