Strong language

When I was in high school, around the time of steam power and the Guttenberg printing press, I was fortunate to have a History/Social Studies teacher, Mr Jim Nicks, who instilled in me many of the values that I carry today - one of which is this - that freedom brings with it great responsibility and accountability.

I've been thinking a lot lately about one of our most valuable freedoms, freedom of speech, and the responsibility that comes with it, and I keep coming back to something Jim Nicks taught me 30 odd years ago;

"Your right to free speech extends only to the point where your fist meets my nose"

In a nutshell, this is to say that freedom of speech is NOT an absolute, there are conditions attached to it ie your right to free speech extends only to the point where it is poised to infringe on my basic human rights.

What brought this to mind were 2 recent incidents. The first was an e-mail from a gentleman who objected to something I posted on a message board wherein I called out a poster who'd slandered an acquaintance of mine, all the while hiding behind an alias. The e-mailer insisted I was denying this person's right to free speech; I responded that free speech does not exist where an individual shirks the responsibility of owning up to their remarks by publishing their real name.

The second incident was something I stumbled upon quite innocently. While searching on youtube I came across a tv interview with a woman whose right wing fundamentalist "Christian" organization pickets the funerals of dead soldiers, victims of natural disasters, gay rights supporters, and any number of other groups, while holding picket signs that read "Thank God for dead soldiers", "God hates fags", and several other slogans that I don't wish to repeat - nor do I wish to repeat the name of her church. Simply put, and I offer this after having visited their website, this is the most viciously, unabashedly hateful group I've ever seen in modern times. They are racist, they are homophobic, they hate Jews, Catholics, Muslims, and anyone else who does not subscribe to their fanatically twisted misinterpretation of the bible.

Unfortunately the American Civil Liberties Union has come to the defence of this group, insisting that they have the right to voice their opinions, as guaranteed by the constituion.

I disagree. Free speech is NOT the freedom to say whatever you wish about whomever you wish, whenever you wish. Free speech is the right to engage, to express, to contribute, to agree, to disagree, to debate, to use this wonderful thing we call language in order to further ideas that build up our societies rather than tear them down. We have the freedom to use language to put an end to hatred and bigotry, we have the freedom to use language to oppose repression, and we have these freedoms because of, and only when we accept responsibility for our words.

"Your right to free speech extends only to the point where your fist meets my nose"

jm