A Defining Moment for Freedom
September 2012
“Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people’s idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone else says anything back, that is an outrage.”
Winston Churchill
“What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.”
Salman Rushdie
“Rights are not a matter of numbers – and there can be no such thing, in law or in morality, as actions forbidden to an individual, but permitted to a mob.”
Ayn Rand
Much has been written in the past about the turn of the French Revolution. In the beginning it seemed to echo the American Revolution but after the death of Louis XVI, took a more insidious turn. One of the hallmarks of the French Terror was marked intolerance from those opinions not shared by the reining government. In one of the more egregious examples, “There was a similar “purging” of Lyons by Collot d’Herbois, at Toulon by Barras, and at Nantes, by Carrier, and the anarchic, often repulsive, ‘dechristianisation’ practiced by the loathsome Fouche’-himself an ex-priest.”[i] The only tolerable opinions were those of the government currently in power.
In the film “the American President,” written by the liberal writer Aaron Sorkin, and directed by liberal Rob Reiner, the lead character subtly named “President Shepherd” utters this phrase during the big speech part of the movie, “You want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who’s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours.”
This week saw an American present a very different type of film about Islam. It was amateurish, sophomoric, and a waste of time for any thinking person. In short, it was dumb and wrongheaded and never should have been made. Yet it depicted the preeminent figure in Islam and for that US embassies and citizens around the world are in danger. Of course other religious figures from Jesus to Moses are routinely depicted in the US in ways that should invite the scorn of those presiding over the depictions but no violence occurs. Yet this is not the central issue that should be debated.
The central issue is whether the United States is truly a free country and whether our government will stand up for that freedom, no matter how ridiculous that speech. To stand up and say that the vast majority of Muslims desire peace and that the overwhelming population of American Muslims condemn what happened in Libya is both correct and would be readily defended by any President, including Barak Obama. But as Sorkin has his protagonist state, “America isn’t easy.”
When we impose values on freedom of speech then two things will eventually happen. First, the most powerful entity, whether it be government, unions, political parties, corporations and yes, religions, will decide what are the right values and what are the wrong values. The second piece is those entities will use their power to curb the “wrong” speech as was seen in the French Revolution. The truly powerful nation, the nation of freedom of speech should stand ready to defend the opinions of its citizens, all the opinions of all of its citizens, no matter the cost. In the essence of freedom of speech lies the essence of freedom itself.