During Banned Books Week we celebrate our rights to read, write, say, listen to, believe, and think what we want. The First Amendment covers not only freedom of speech, but freedom of conscience, freedom to associate and meet with anyone we want, and the freedom to listen to anyone we want to -- including those who disagree with us or have ideas that may offend others. Everything offends someone, so it's important not to start silencing ideas in the name of not offending. And we can't just limit this to the government and the First Amendment; it's also important to foster a culture of free speech and tolerance across our society. If our culture does not support open discussion, our government very soon won't either.
These freedoms are especially crucial for minoritized and marginalized people. It is no coincidence that women's rights, civil rights for all races, and LGBT rights could only be established after the US Supreme Court started enforcing robust free speech protections at the federal level. (Before that, it was largely thought to be a matter for the states.) When these rights are not protected, those in power will oppress minorities in the name of avoiding offense. Blasphemy or hate speech laws in other countries, for example, are invariably used to jail and silence dissenters who criticize those in power. The idea of rights for women was offensive to the powerful, as were equal rights for all races and for LGBT people. Because the urge to silence dissent is so strong in human nature, it's always important for every generation to learn to uphold a culture of free speech and open discussion.
There are many more reasons to protect free speech! Read on...
If you'd like to understand more about why censorship is a problem, reading some of Greg Lukianoff's short pieces is a good place to start. Lukianoff is a First Amendment lawyer and president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, an organization that focuses on censorship issues and representing people who are being persecuted for their speech. He is a great explainer of why we should support free speech, even when we don't like what's being said. Try this short essay on "The Eternally Radical Idea."
What do you call an idea that has a clear track record of promoting innovation, human flourishing, prosperity, and progress, but is nonetheless rejected by every generation?
I would call that idea radical. And because it’s always so staunchly opposed, I would call that idea “eternally radical.”
So what is the Eternally Radical Idea? It is freedom of speech.
The unfettered right to state your opinion is extremely rare in human history. Your right to promote reform, contradict prevailing orthodoxies, or engage in artistic and personal expression is even rarer.
Indeed, human beings are natural born censors with a strong drive toward community conformity. Throughout the millennia, how have we typically handled dissenters? Often it’s ostracization or banishment. At other times, it’s arrest, torture, beheadings, burning at the stake, crucifixion, or drinking hemlock...
On the other hand, when you look at history, you’ll see times when societies were comparatively tolerant of differing ideas characterized as Golden Ages. Think of ancient Athens, the late republican and early Roman Empire, the Islamic world of the Middle Ages, and China just prior to the Ming dynasty.
Mere toleration of dissenters is surely a radical idea. But the eternally radical idea goes a step further: Rather than merely not jailing or killing dissenters, how about we listen to them?
How do we accept the possibility that the dissident might be right — or, even more radically, that the sacred truths of our ancestors might be wrong? This has been described by Yuval Noah Harari as the “discovery of ignorance,” and it was a crucial step toward “liberal science,” the scientific revolution, the Enlightenment, and the idea of civil and human rights...
Other good short pieces include Answers to 12 Bad Anti-Free Speech Arguments (a series) and 9 Principles for Preparing K-12 Students to Thrive in a Diverse Democracy.
Mill's Trident is a philosophical argument for freedom of speech, formulated by John Stuart Mill (who was also an early advocate of women's equality). When we have an idea or belief and wish to shut down those who disagree, there are three possibilities:
One way you can foster a culture of open discussion is to make time to read and listen to people you don't agree with. Irshad Manji, in her excellent book Don't Label Me, suggests 11 steps for honest diversity:
