Taking sides in the war on free speech
On Sunday, two Islamist terrorists were shot to death not in Iraq or Yemen, but in Garland, Texas. They were there to attack an exhibition of Mohammad cartoons. Pens and paper met with bullets. This will not be the last of these attacks.
There are only two sides here, and Americans have to be on the right one.
We are in the midst of a global war on free speech. The core values of radical Islam are in conflict with the core values of the West. To silence the West’s criticism (both implicit and explicit) of all that is radical Islam, the Islamists are murdering select Westerners to send a warning to the rest of us.
Those who cannot defeat us on the battlefield seek to defeat us at home with a simple ultimatum: Criticize Mohammad and die. Even in America.
The Associated Press reported that one Islamic State compatriot tweeted after the Texas attack, “Let anyone who wants to draw the picture of our Prophet to think one thousand times before doing so, because our hands can reach his neck.”
As a tolerant people, Americans tend to be respectful of religious beliefs. It is bad form to belittle another’s faith (except among secular elites who consider faith itself worthy of scorn). Some Americans mistakenly believe that to stand for free speech is to violate this social norm. This is false.
Defending free speech does not require embracing the content of all that is freely said. It does not require engaging directly in offensive speech. It requires only tolerating it. In a society that tolerates only socially acceptable speech, free speech does not exist.
In this war, there is no, “ ... but I don’t support that speech.” One stands for free speech or one stands against it. America must stand for it, now more than ever.
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