Freedom of Speech

Although I love this country for its freedoms, I do not believe we should be free to abuse one another. The first amendment, passed in 1789, is what makes all our rights possible. In 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt’s speech summed up the four freedoms that make our country great. This year there were articles in the Reader’s Digest; here’s what I got from reading them as well as my view on things that have happened.

Freedom of speech - I heard that when there are prosecutable crimes for an act, freedom of speech is not to enter the equation. Therefore, democracy does demand a certain commitment to good manners. 

The stealing and dissemination of private documents written by other people is not always free expression, let alone free speech. Army private Bradley Manning stole the documents that Julian Assange and WikiLeaks disseminated. I understand that in this age of ultra-hacking no law could have prevented the actions. However, the act of theft if discovered is prosecutable. I also heard that there is no way to gauge the influence or action of rhetoric (persuasion via argumentative communication) when it comes to hate speeches. I somewhat agree. The target or crosshair symbols on a map did not cause the Arizona tragedy and the act of placing the symbols on the map is not prosecutable.

Christopher Hitchens said - If someone’s voice is silenced, then I am deprived of the right to hear. Moreover, I have never met nor heard of anybody I would trust with the job of deciding in advance what might be permissible for me or anyone else to say or read. I agree that Islam is a religion that makes very large claims for itself and it can hardly demand that such claims be immune from criticism. I also agree that wherever the light of free debate and expression is extinguished, the darkness is very much deeper, more palpable (evident), and more protracted (lingering). The urge to shut out bad news or unwelcome opinions will always be a very strong one, which is why the battle to reaffirm freedom of speech needs to be refought in every generation.

I’m pretty sure we don’t consider the National Socialists Movement (Neo-Nazi, White Supremacy) a religion so their existence must come under freedom of speech. This country touts that it does not tolerate discrimination and the USA was among the groups hunting down and trying Nazi war criminals. We had witch hunts in the 1950s to locate Communists in our country. I’m not saying those practices were right but I think this group is no different than any other gang, the KKK or the Taliban that hinders our beliefs and it needs close watching to ensure such practices are not followed in this country. I don’t know how we would nip such terrorism in the bud at the first signs of discrimination since we are free to speak. To deter the clique/gang mentality and the gluttony, envy and greed that start with young children, perhaps all schools should have uniforms in order to encourage the belief that there is no difference between the financial classes or any cultural group. Kudos to the Gaede twins for realizing their parents’ White Supremacy beliefs are not appropriate or right for this country.

I believe there are subtle differences between first amendment rights and hate crime laws. I do agree that the Westboro Baptist Church of Kansas has a right to speak for or against public issues. However in my opinion, for the Westboro Church’s outbursts and actions to be considered freedom of speech their actions should be directed to those it is speaking against, i.e. the government. If they want to peacefully assemble and speak their disapproval of government laws then let them do so at the White House, Pentagon, recruiting offices, or any other government office. The news media will make sure that they are heard.

Law abiding citizens supporting our values should be spared from the Westboro Church’s direct attacks. The Supreme Court decision to allow them to desecrate the funerals of our military or any law abiding citizen is to me an act of hate against said individual and should be punishable as such.