A right wing guy dealing with his left wing girlfriend
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Free Speech as long as I agree
Kudos to AcademicBias for their short film, Brainwashing 101. If you are interested in the issue of free speech, what is happening to conservatives on US campuses will stun you. I highly recommend downloading this film.
2 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Dear Marcel;
I agree wholeheartedly with your viewpoint here. It is the right to question that is in jeopardy if we publically ban "wrong thinking". If people do not get the chance to voice their opinion then we are the worse off for it.
However, I feel that people are responsible for their actions. While a school should not ban free speech just in case someone's feelings get hurt, it is a moral obligation of the speaker to consider the words used and the impact on other people. And if you offend someone then you should apologize. But that does not mean you should be withheld from speaking in the first place! And shame on the courts for letting people attempt to sue colleges for "intolerant environments" - that's what you paid to go to school for!!! Students should go to school to challenge their beliefs and confront disruptive ideas.
Where would we be today without the Socratic Method? The Socratic Method is based on the need to question openly every assumption, and therefore every viewpoint. It is by the reduction of an argument to its very basis that leads to things like political reform and scientific discovery. But we can't do that if everyone is afraid to speak.
Although I agree with you, I would always err on the side of offending someone versus limiting their free speech. You would be surprised what offends people. I have seen work situations where an employee was offended when a supervisor corrected him/made him do a job over because it did not meet company standard. The employee was not offended by the words used, etc, but by the fact that he was corrected. People need to thicken up their skin.
2 comments:
Dear Marcel;
I agree wholeheartedly with your viewpoint here. It is the right to question that is in jeopardy if we publically ban "wrong thinking". If people do not get the chance to voice their opinion then we are the worse off for it.
However, I feel that people are responsible for their actions. While a school should not ban free speech just in case someone's feelings get hurt, it is a moral obligation of the speaker to consider the words used and the impact on other people. And if you offend someone then you should apologize. But that does not mean you should be withheld from speaking in the first place! And shame on the courts for letting people attempt to sue colleges for "intolerant environments" - that's what you paid to go to school for!!! Students should go to school to challenge their beliefs and confront disruptive ideas.
Where would we be today without the Socratic Method? The Socratic Method is based on the need to question openly every assumption, and therefore every viewpoint. It is by the reduction of an argument to its very basis that leads to things like political reform and scientific discovery. But we can't do that if everyone is afraid to speak.
Although I agree with you, I would always err on the side of offending someone versus limiting their free speech. You would be surprised what offends people. I have seen work situations where an employee was offended when a supervisor corrected him/made him do a job over because it did not meet company standard. The employee was not offended by the words used, etc, but by the fact that he was corrected. People need to thicken up their skin.
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