Someone I’m close to once told me that when he was young he would get in trouble all of the time and his mother would beat him. Some of the time he did the things he was being punished for, but more often than not, he was being punished because his older brothers and sisters would set him up to take the fall for their misbehavior. On these occasions my friend would attempt to explain to his mother what had happened, but she’d slap him, her wedding ring usually cutting open his lip in the process, and tell him to shut up. As a result,this friend of mine swore that when he had children he’d talk with them until he was blue in the face before he ever raised a hand in punishment.

Every time I come across censorship in any form I remember the story from my friend’s childhood. And while we can’t always trust everyone to always tell the truth I still believe that everyone should have the right to freedom of speech and that includes the freedom to write whatever they wish. There are some exceptions (i.e. condoning and/or encouraging others to do or participate in actual violent acts such as rape, murder, molestation, etc.), but for the most part I believe those exceptions are so glaringly obvious that they shouldn’t need to be voiced. Other things are in the gray area when it comes to freedom of speech. Should people be allowed to say that Jesus is God and all other gods are false? Sure. Just like Muslims or Jews should be allowed to say Jesus was a fraud and their version of God is the one true God. Do you have to like it? Not at all, you can hate it. And the best thing about freedom of speech is that you’re even allowed to say that you hate it.

The biggest problem I see with freedom of speech is that people are all for it until they hear or read something that they don’t like or that they find offensive, then all bets are off. But why? Why should it apply to only you and not others? Last time I checked all Americans had that right. If you live in the United States, you are guaranteed Freedom of Speech, it’s the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. Sadly I’m not sure this applies anywhere else in the world. If it does, and you can give me examples, please let me know, I’d love to read up on this in regards to other countries.

The reason I broach this topic is a result of this news piece I found regarding a group of people suing for the right to publicly burn a book they find offensive.

I decided to do some research on book burning via Google. I came across a spoof page poking fun at Christians for burning books that are offensive. The fictional church apparently was burning several million books a year. I would be extremely sad if that were actually true, even on a smaller scale. I also came across a book entitled Burn This Book: PEN Writers Speak Out on the Power of the Word by Toni Morrison. I’ve not read the book, but now I’m thinking I just might, if only because I’m curious to see just what all of these writers have to say about censorship.

Everyone is allowed to do as they wish with their own property, their own family, their own life; but when your choices negatively affect others, then you are no longer allowed to do as you wish. Did that book at the library in West Bend, Wisconsin really have such a powerful affect on the four people who are suing that they were subject to a hate crime? I truly hope not. But I don’t believe that burning a book in public will do anything except make people who never would have heard about the book to be burned other wise, all that more inclined to go out and read it, just to see what all the uproar is about. The people filing that lawsuit may just find that their demands have the opposite affect that they desire. Regardless of the outcome, they’re allowed to voice their protest. And that, more than anything else, tells me that even in censorship, there is the power of free speech at work.

One final link, Neil Gaiman’s take on this subject. As always he’s aticulate without being boringly wordy like yours truly.

Tags: Free Speech, Writing