Free Speech is a Soul Grower

East Aurora NY

My husband is writing a book.  Actually he is working on three simultaneously. Don't ask me how that works.   With his permission, the following is a small portion.  Excellent read on what is happening to free speech.

Americans have the Constitutional right to freedom of speech (the First Amendment). Well, mostly. We do not have the right to advocate the violent overthrow of our government nor the right to scream "Fire!" in a crowded theatre when there is none. All well and good you might say. Well, at least, I do. Now comes the matter of "hate speech". It seems that what constitutes "hate speech" as a concept and a matter of law is evolving to something much greater than what it might have been defined as as little as a year or two ago. Expressions of racial or religious hatreds are as old as the hills. To these offenses we have added hateful expressions about LGBT persons, fat people, class warfare mongers and more. It seems that with each new day there comes a new form of "hate speech".

Oddly so long as you can construe your comments as political in nature you may say pretty much anything about politicians. Fortunately, I suspect that right will be protected so long as there are multiple political organizations abroad in the land. And so, we find that with respect to "hate speech" politicians are giving us yet another do as I say not as I do object lesson. Meanwhile free speech as we once knew it is being drawn into the black hole of legal restrictions and limitations with criminal penalties attached to punish the so called "haters".
This is not to say that the intentions behind legal opposition to "hate speech" are bad. I just believe that legislating against it misses the point even if doing so tends to reduce the practice in public at least. After all, humans routinely judge one another based race, religion, nationality, our choice of sexual partners, etc., etc.. Apparently doing this is the normative condition among humans of every kind and persuasion everywhere. So, ending these offensive and foolish behaviors requires a fundamental alteration in the psyche (think Jesus and see below) and perhaps even the DNA of everyone on the planet. That such change might ever happen seems highly improbable.

Perhaps we are looking for the wrong solution if in the parlance of the day "haters gonna hate" no matter what we may legislate. Certainly the "old white men" that framed our American Constitution thought so. And, they even saw virtue in preserving the nature of "hate speech" if not of approving of it. Instead more wisely than today's would be reformers they understood that "hate speech" is a subjective and quite changeable phenomena subject to ever-evolving standards of taste and tolerance. And so, those were precisely the mechanisms chosen way back in the '90s (that is the 1790s!) to "regulate" speech of all sorts instead of laws through the Bill of Rights guarantee of freedom of speech meaning virtually all expression whether you or I like it or not.

But wait, there's more. Of course almost everyone will say that they prefer "nice speech" to "hate speech". However, according to a report on yesterday's AM TV news overbearing and even abusive speech and behaviors command greater salaries, fear and acquiescence. Instead of "hate speech" let us call such expression "mean speech". Apparently it is much more successful than "nice speech" that generally is taken advantage of because it receives fewer promotions, lesser salaries and tends to be ignored in deference to the loud mouth in the room. The bully may not be liked but gets his or her way. He or she may even be respected for their assertiveness. So, indeed, as the aphorism states, "Nice guys [and gals] finish last".

I suppose that is why Christ must be crucified. He comes to save humanity not to condemn it. Whereas humanity prefers the violent and vengeful Barrabas to the peace, love and forgiveness of Christ.

Or, this deference (preference?) is why ISIS seems attractive to some. There is no "weakness" only a firm and absolute commitment to rules be they Sharia law, charismatic Imams or someone's interpretations of Mohammed and/or Allah (God). It works because thinking is not required. One has no doubts, blind obedience and a commitment to "justice" as you are instructed. It worked for Hitler and it's working for ISIS.
What one should take away from this knowledge is that "mean speech" may be successful but must be suspect until proven innocent whereas "nice speech" must be considered innocent until proven guilty. Judge both by their product. The destruction of lives literally or figuratively is the hallmark of evils whether monstrous or petty. And, so too with "hate speech". But, no laws, please, about speaking. Let it be FREE! There are laws aplenty about the product of someone's speech that are sufficient to manage any problem that might be the outcome of what you or I may say.