{"id":12891,"date":"2008-09-12T15:50:50","date_gmt":"2008-09-12T22:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2008\/09\/12\/freedom-of-speech-means-something.html"},"modified":"2008-09-12T15:50:50","modified_gmt":"2008-09-12T22:50:50","slug":"freedom_of_speech_means_s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/09\/12\/freedom_of_speech_means_s.html","title":{"rendered":"Freedom of Speech means something"},"content":{"rendered":"

An excellent essay here (via Ginny) on why Freedom of Speech is more important than Freedom from <\/em>(Offensive) Speech<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

On a surprisingly regular basis, one hears accounts of \u201cparents\u201d or \u201cfamily\u201d groups trying to get books banned from libraries on the grounds that they are not appropriate for young people. Or of schools adopting speech codes that restrict speech of an \u201coffensive or harmful nature.\u201d In the interest of rhetorical honesty, I\u2019m willing to grant that in both types of cases the motives are laudable – protecting people from harm. I\u2019ve said it before and I\u2019ll no doubt say it again but the perils of protecting people from \u201charmful\u201d speech are probably greater than the perils of the speech itself.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

The author, Glenden Brown notes that, for their part, no matter how many conservatives seem to back protection against speech they find offensive (to be sure, plenty of liberals do the same), conservative commentators are increasingly well-known for saying the most offensive things — then laughing it off as “just a joke” and poking fun at the “whining” liberals.<\/p>\n

Despite this, the answer isn’t (as if it could really be done) banning speech, but being fearless in pointing out what’s wrong with it and getting at the real issues underneath.<\/p>\n

\n

The larger conversation isn\u2019t, \u201cStop using term X – it hurts people\u2019s feelings.\u201d The larger conversation it, \u201cTerm X is offensive because of its history. It has been used as an insult, as a dehumanizing term. It It cannot be used separate from that history.\u201d We also have a right to ask – for what reasons are you choosing to use Term X?<\/p>\n

In the case of Ann Coulter\u2019s slur of John Edwards: The term faggot was cleary inappropriate. Edwards is heterosexual, demonstrably and publicly so. Coulter wasn\u2019t calling his actual sexual orientation into question, she was trying to question his manhood, much as was done four years ago when he was dubbed the \u201cBreck Girl.\u201d Such language is targeted at the lizard brain – it\u2019s job is to portray the target as weak, as \u201cother\u201d, as womanly in a bad way. When Coulter got the pushback, she retreated into the usual conservative shtick of \u201chysterical womanly liberals can\u2019t take a joke.\u201d The use of slurs in discourse is intended to do one thing – get in the way of discourse. That doesn\u2019t mean we should ban them, it means we need to confront them strongly and identify them for what they are – then move on to the real issue of the debate.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Good stuff, and worth reading as the slurs and innuendo from (mostly) the GOP escalates in this election year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An excellent essay here (via Ginny) on why Freedom of Speech is more important than Freedom from (Offensive) Speech. On a surprisingly regular basis, one hears accounts of \u201cparents\u201d or…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[54,9,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-elections-2008","category-politics-law","category-zt-pc"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49282,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/01\/19\/freedom-of-icky-speech.html","url_meta":{"origin":12891,"position":0},"title":"Freedom of Icky Speech","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 19-Jan-15 7:49am","format":false,"excerpt":"Neil Gaiman on why you shouldn't just defend speech you like or enjoy or _agree with_ or find pleasant. It's the other stuff that needs defending first, because that's what sets the precedent protecting your stuff. Originally shared by +WIST - Wish I'd Said That: The Law is a blunt\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32328,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/01\/26\/who-should-get-freedom-of-speech.html","url_meta":{"origin":12891,"position":1},"title":"Who should get freedom of speech?","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 26-Jan-13 1:19pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Following a French court's ruling that Twitter has to provide the true identity of some folks who made anti-Semitic comments online:'You never needed a constitution to protect popular people\u2019s right to express popular opinions. When they say dumb things, nobody really minds, either. When stupid people express popular opinions, nobody\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9088,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/02\/21\/sauce_for_the_g.html","url_meta":{"origin":12891,"position":2},"title":"Sauce for the goose","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 21-Feb-06 8:21am","format":false,"excerpt":"How can the West stand (in the \"Mohammed Cartoons\" controversy) for freedom of expression, no madder how rude or offensive or inflammatory, when folks are still being imprisoned for rude,...","rel":"","context":"In "ZT & PC"","block_context":{"text":"ZT & PC","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/zt-pc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41814,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/04\/27\/freedom-of-speech-on-the-street.html","url_meta":{"origin":12891,"position":3},"title":"Freedom of Speech on the Street","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 27-Apr-14 10:54am","format":false,"excerpt":"Took these photos in Pasadena this week, along Colorado Blvd (yes, right where the Rose Parade goes along). Four of the traffic signal boxes have been decorated with quotations about free speech from\u00a0George Washington, Frederick Douglass, Potter Stewart, and Eleanor Roosevelt. \u00a0It's an art piece called \"Utility\" by Susan Silton\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/IMG_20140424_190632423_HDR.jpg.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":51304,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/30\/freedom-of-speech-is-for-provocative-dolts-too.html","url_meta":{"origin":12891,"position":4},"title":"Freedom of Speech is for provocative dolts, too","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 30-May-15 1:30am","format":false,"excerpt":"I dislike people telling me what I can say or think about a particular religion, or who insist on my respecting their religious tenets regarding iconography.On the other hand, I dislike people who go out of their way to be provocative, insulting, and hateful, then wrap themselves in the flag\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28534,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/07\/11\/free-speech-for-me-but-not-for-thee.html","url_meta":{"origin":12891,"position":5},"title":"Free speech for me, but not for thee","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 11-Jul-12 9:55pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Texas is all about the Personal Freedom, don't you know? \u00a0Rough riders and\u00a0marshals\u00a0and cowboys and the independent Westerner who speaks his mind and fights for freedom.Which is, of course, why Texas is basically gagging doctors and clinics who receive state women's health money from even talking about abortion to their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12891\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}