About a month ago when I first started working for The Daily Nebraskan, I posted a statement on the whiteboard outside of my room: "Got an opinion? Write it here." I hoped someone would have an interesting topic and bring it to my attention and thus to the masses of the student body.
Ask and ye shall receive, my board filled up quickly with opinions. None, however gave me what I had in mind.
For example, I'm very surprised at the childish sexism that still runs rampant through our culture. "Women are only good for cooking, cleaning and vaginas!" Seriously?
Perhaps this is the problem with freedom of speech: It gives anyone a voice, even idiots. The same laws that protect your speech protect those who will disagree with you. The First Amendment even protects hate speech. You legally can call someone a derogatory name (like, say, a self-centered, misogynistic, neanderthalic piece of crap) and get away with it.
This brings to mind the Westboro Baptist Church, a church that encourages its followers to display Bible passages as well as the following statements they display on their Web site godhatesfags.com, "GOD HATES FAGS, FAGS HATE GOD, AIDS CURES FAGS, THANK GOD FOR AIDS, FAGS BURN IN HELL."
Lovely, isn't it?
On the flip side of this idea is the Blasphemy Challenge, which encourages people to upload videos to YouTube in which the person on the video denies the existence of the Holy Spirit. And you get a free DVD out of it! Score!
While I'll spare you from my thoughts on religion, I will say this: Huzzah! We can hear equally from two completely different areas of closed-mindedness. Isn't it awesome that we live in a country where we can have such extreme viewpoints displayed? Damn, I love the First Amendment! In fact I love it so much I'll let you read it now so you can share in the warm fuzziness of free speech.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
I can say the following without any fear thanks to this document:
I hate automatic flush toilets.
My friends rule the planet with their awesomeness!
Beets taste disgusting.
I like going to rock concerts more than most people.
Because of the First Amendment I have no fear of my government sending assassins out to kill me because of my writings or beliefs. Not every country has such security for its citizens. In Russia many journalists have actually died because of their reporting. Eritrea, an African country, has the largest amount of journalists in prison.
Imagine that. People who report on what is happening are being jailed for it. Governments attempting to control journalists are blatantly trying to alter reality to suit their own purposes (I can haz Doublethink?). The journalists who work under these governments have an incredible amount of bravery and deserve a great deal of credit.
However, U.S. citizens do not possess complete freedom of speech. There are certain things that are illegal, such as slander, certain forms of pornography and obscenity.
While in my mind obscenity depends highly on context and culture (with your friends versus in front of grandma), I do understand that there is a need for some sort of regulation. As much as I hate the idea of censoring thought and expression, there has to be some sort of line... I just haven't a clue as to where that line should be.
The idea that someone can say "This thought is wrong; we must protect people from it!" scares the hell out of me, even more than clowns. Who can question the validity of a thought? What makes a thought so wrong that we must stop it from infecting the minds of others?
One of the more famous Supreme Court cases to involve parody speech, Flynt vs. Falwell, centered on an article published in pornographer Larry Flynt's "Hustler," making fun of Evangelical leader Jerry Falwell. Falwell claimed the article was emotionally damaging (he protests his "first time" was indeed NOT in an outhouse and NOT with his mother) and sued Flynt.
Flynt countersued and after years of court battles, the case was taken to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled unanimously in Flynt's favor. Because of this ruling our comedians, pornographers and budding columnists are safe, because of this our university can publish The DailyER Nebraskan.
"But, but ... columnists aren't funny! Comedians are stupid and porn is gross!" OK, so that might be your view, but consider the far worse alternative. Imagine having every single thing you say regulated. Imagine not being able to speak your mind. For many countries freedom of speech isn't an option, and you are lucky to have this right.
Legally speaking, our government cannot reprimand an article's author, no matter how outrageous the opinion or subject matter. But you as a reader can. If someone says something you disagree with, you have every right to contradict them. This is why newspapers and magazines have letters pages so you, the everyday ordinary people, can speak your mind and have just as many people read it as did the original article. So use your rights. Disagree with me? If you're writing a letter now and planning on sending it in, you've just proven my point.
Rhiannon Root is a freshman general studies major. Reach her at rhiannonroot@dailynebraskan.com.
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