24 July 2002

This month's On Display topic is: Write about one of your hot-button issues - from your opponent's viewpoint.

Freedom of speech is all well and good as a concept. But it's got some immutable problems.

National security, for one. If I possess information which our enemies could use to harm us, don't you think I should be legally constrained to keep my mouth shut? Don't you think I should be punished if I let that information get out - especially if someone is harmed by it?

For that matter, during times of national crisis - at war, for example - when morale is important, it's important that dissenters be restricted. Of course they have a right to their opinion - but there are appropriate times and places and manners for expressing their opinions, and crippling morale helps no one, and may harm a great deal.

Speaking of harm... Let's talk about children. "Freedom of speech" doesn't protect innocent minds being irreparably damaged by exposure too early to ideas that they simply can't understand or aren't mature enough to handle.

Or worse yet - ideas they do understand, at least in part, but which undermine the authority of their parents, teachers, government, and religion.

I don't think a four-year-old should be seeing violence or pornography. Especially since four-year-olds have this tendency to want to copycat things they see pictures of. Can you think of a more horrifying prospect?

It's damned difficult to instill patriotism and national pride in a youth who's being exposed to criticism of the nation. How do you keep a child in line who's reading books about the rewards of rebellion and the free spirit? How do you teach them the morals you think they should value when they have not only books but magazines, video games, movies, and television shows each espousing a different view?

It's not that freedom of speech is a bad idea. It's just that it needs a few boundaries and limitations.

Gah. I feel soiled, I really do. I suppose it could've been worse - I could have tried to express the viewpoint of someone who opposes homosexual and other non-traditional relationships... Except that I couldn't have. I couldn't even think of a reasonable universal objection that didn't boil down to one of: "It's gross," (which is just petty) "It makes things too complicated," (have you looked at tax law lately? complicated shouldn't be an issue) or "God said it was bad," (which is really just a combination of the other two with religion thrown in to give it some weight).

Anyway, my other big hot-button is censorship. At least I can see the reasons for censorship, even if I don't agree with them. In case we were unclear on this: I'm a political moderate with liberal leanings. One of those leanings? Censorship. Is. Wrong.

I think I'll go read a banned book now...

--Liz