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Free Speech and Love (EP.66)
Summary
What is the connection between free speech and love? This one is pretty easy. Let’s start with the love part. It is easy to love people who are loveable. We don’t need to be encouraged or told to do that; it just comes easily and naturally. It is harder to love people we merely tolerate. And what’s this about loving our enemies? The admonition, the encouragement, to love one another is not focused on loving the loveable, it is focused on loving the unlovable.
It is the same with free speech. Embracing free speech is not about accepting or allowing speech you agree with. Like loving the lovable, that is easy and comes naturally, needing neither laws nor encouragement. The law and the moral correctness behind the concept of free speech is focused on speech we might violently disagree with.
Links and References
Tolerance
Offense is in the Eye of the Offended
Contact
Please do reach out with comments or questions. You can email me at [email protected], or connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
And you can subscribe to the podcast on your favorite device through Apple Podcasts, Google, or Stitcher.
Transcript
What is the connection between free speech and love? This one is pretty easy. Let’s start with the love part. It is easy to love people who are loveable. We don’t need to be encouraged or told to do that; it just comes easily and naturally. It is harder to love people we merely tolerate. And what’s this about loving our enemies? The admonition, the encouragement, to love one another is not focused on loving the loveable, it is focused on loving the unlovable.
It is the same with free speech. Embracing free speech is not about accepting or allowing speech you agree with. Like loving the lovable, that is easy and comes naturally, needing neither laws nor encouragement. The law and the moral correctness behind the concept of free speech is focused on speech we might strongly disagree with.
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Voltaire. Instead of being willing to defend to the death others’ free speech rights, we we are drifting towards wanting to put to death the ones with whom we disagree who are exercising those very free speech rights.
The First Amendment goes far beyond the pivotal guarantee of freedom of speech. It also includes freedom of religion, freedom of the press, the right to peaceably assemble, and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. And having all five of these in the same amendment is not an accident; they go together. Notice how many people and groups want to cherry pick; they want, for example, the right to assemble, peaceably or not, often while squashing others’ free speech rights in the name of their view of “justice.” Might it occur to them there can be no justice while squashing other peoples’ rights? Perhaps the chant, “No justice, no peace.” might help make this point.
Let’s go back to tying free speech and love. Of the two greatest commandments in the bible, the second is, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” No, this is not a bible lesson, but pay attention; you can be secular and still get tremendous benefits from the wisdom contained in a variety of sources. The bible is one of those sources. Note the word “as”. Love your neighbor as yourself. This command does not allow for much wiggle room, “as yourself” means just that. Love yourself and your neighbors equally. No qualifications about loving the many different types of neighbors differently.
All five parts of the First Amendment, including free speech, are similarly broad. Yes, these freedoms are for us to enjoy. And with every freedom comes an equal or greater responsibility. One of our responsibilities is to ensure these same freedo...
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By Will LudenSummary
What is the connection between free speech and love? This one is pretty easy. Let’s start with the love part. It is easy to love people who are loveable. We don’t need to be encouraged or told to do that; it just comes easily and naturally. It is harder to love people we merely tolerate. And what’s this about loving our enemies? The admonition, the encouragement, to love one another is not focused on loving the loveable, it is focused on loving the unlovable.
It is the same with free speech. Embracing free speech is not about accepting or allowing speech you agree with. Like loving the lovable, that is easy and comes naturally, needing neither laws nor encouragement. The law and the moral correctness behind the concept of free speech is focused on speech we might violently disagree with.
Links and References
Tolerance
Offense is in the Eye of the Offended
Contact
Please do reach out with comments or questions. You can email me at [email protected], or connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
And you can subscribe to the podcast on your favorite device through Apple Podcasts, Google, or Stitcher.
Transcript
What is the connection between free speech and love? This one is pretty easy. Let’s start with the love part. It is easy to love people who are loveable. We don’t need to be encouraged or told to do that; it just comes easily and naturally. It is harder to love people we merely tolerate. And what’s this about loving our enemies? The admonition, the encouragement, to love one another is not focused on loving the loveable, it is focused on loving the unlovable.
It is the same with free speech. Embracing free speech is not about accepting or allowing speech you agree with. Like loving the lovable, that is easy and comes naturally, needing neither laws nor encouragement. The law and the moral correctness behind the concept of free speech is focused on speech we might strongly disagree with.
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Voltaire. Instead of being willing to defend to the death others’ free speech rights, we we are drifting towards wanting to put to death the ones with whom we disagree who are exercising those very free speech rights.
The First Amendment goes far beyond the pivotal guarantee of freedom of speech. It also includes freedom of religion, freedom of the press, the right to peaceably assemble, and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. And having all five of these in the same amendment is not an accident; they go together. Notice how many people and groups want to cherry pick; they want, for example, the right to assemble, peaceably or not, often while squashing others’ free speech rights in the name of their view of “justice.” Might it occur to them there can be no justice while squashing other peoples’ rights? Perhaps the chant, “No justice, no peace.” might help make this point.
Let’s go back to tying free speech and love. Of the two greatest commandments in the bible, the second is, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” No, this is not a bible lesson, but pay attention; you can be secular and still get tremendous benefits from the wisdom contained in a variety of sources. The bible is one of those sources. Note the word “as”. Love your neighbor as yourself. This command does not allow for much wiggle room, “as yourself” means just that. Love yourself and your neighbors equally. No qualifications about loving the many different types of neighbors differently.
All five parts of the First Amendment, including free speech, are similarly broad. Yes, these freedoms are for us to enjoy. And with every freedom comes an equal or greater responsibility. One of our responsibilities is to ensure these same freedo...