Free Speech
Submitted by Dave on Wed, 06/25/2008 - 21:32
The latest story about British Columbia attempting to ban a book by Mark Steyn (a Canadian author now living in the USA) sends a chill up my spine. It was attempted here in Ontario through a petition to the Human Rights Tribunal which (and rightly so) declared it had no jurisdiction to rule on it. The chair of the tribunal then chose to offer several derogatory comments about the book, so much for no bias and fair treatment from our government oversight bodies. The book’s title is “America Alone” and is the author’s view of the changing world population, why it’s happening and his thoughts on the future. It is supported by a massive amount of statistic’s and facts that are not in question. The issue is not a lack of truthfulness but rather the belief that it promotes “hate”. I read this book before the attempts to ban it and in my opinion it does not promote hate. It is extremely informative and provokes thought which in my mind is the very thing that a good book should do. Of course, if certain partisans want to target a book as “hate mongering” and they push the politically correct buttons within our society then “Voila!” we have a hate crime. Once we start banning books because they happen to offend someone then we have lost one of the most precious things a free society has “Free Speech”. This “politically correct madness” that has continued to fester and grow in the past century must be stopped. Words do not injure anyone, words do not kill anyone, words and the ability to say or write them is a right provided to every citizen of a free country. In some cases you can put limits on the when and where they can be said and written (ie pornography) but they should never be banned. The elitists who believe they know better than everyone else are generally the leaders in political correctness but to me the people that line up in a row, bow and do nothing are the worst purveyors of this nonsense. Read the book and then make up your own mind. If you believe it promotes hate then throw it away and state your opinion. That is your right. Let Mr. Steyn exercise his right.
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Free Speech
I'll say up front that I've not read the book. However, I've read about Mark Steyn and his writing. I can see why people get their knickers in a knot over his views....anyone with strong opinions always ends up offending someone.
I've read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Catcher In the Rye, The Grapes of Wrath, Harry Potter and many other books that have been banned/challenged for various reasons.
I'll never agree with the kind of censorship that keeps these classic tales out of our children's classrooms.
In the early sixties, my family folklore has it that my dad and my uncle had a very serious conversation about whether they should allow my sisters and cousins to listen to the Beatles.
I thought that was laughably ridiculous.
But I can't say that I havent been a bit concerned about the kind of music that I've heard on the airwaves over the last few years.
The kinds of things that are open for consumption in todays books and music are evolving and I have to say it is an evolution that I do have concerns with.
Free Speech
I agree that some of the material now called "music" can be offensive but banning it can never be the answer. Rating it or restricting when it can be heard to protect the innocents are all things that can be considered but unfortunately we cannot be selective in allowing free speech.
Free Speech
So true.......we can only make ourselves available for open dialogue with our children so that they feel comfortable questioning and/or objecting to the views they hear in popular culture, and they feel open to hearing our concerns about them.
Not an easy thing to do....but completely necessary.