Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Comment on "Freedom of Speech"
Cara Green wrote an article earlier about a particular person’s view point of the Freedom of Speech. Here I want to consider an even simpler case of how Freedom of Speech is used in today’s world. It is said that Freedom of Speech can be defined as the right of a person to speak their mind. But is this always the case? Some people have religious opinions and other have opinions based on how they perceive a certain topic or how they were brought up. Then why are some people encouraged and others shunned from the lime light of publicly voicing their opinions?
People have always heard what they have wanted to hear. For example, when a child of 8 years old has wanted to speak his/her mind, he is sent to his room or ground from watching TV for a month. His opinions are frowned upon, he is told that what he is saying is wrong and his opinion forced to change. The parents begin to wonder where they went wrong. But did they go wrong? Isn’t every American entitled to speak his/her mind? So why would a child be “wrong” in saying what he truly felt?
We live in an opinionated world. Everyone wants to speak his/her mind about something they thing is right, but their opinions can either be applauded or they can be sent to jail because of it. As an example, profanity is considered immoral by some, possibly even an act of Satan by others. When used in the wrong context, perhaps those who voice their opinions on the way the government (or some other high positioned person) runs things, could cause the person to face serious consequences. Of course, I don’t endorse profanity either, but since a person has a right to speak their mind, I don’t tell them to discontinue using it in my presence.
Maybe it’s time for a new definition of the Freedom of Speech, or it could finally be time to use it for what it truly means.
People have always heard what they have wanted to hear. For example, when a child of 8 years old has wanted to speak his/her mind, he is sent to his room or ground from watching TV for a month. His opinions are frowned upon, he is told that what he is saying is wrong and his opinion forced to change. The parents begin to wonder where they went wrong. But did they go wrong? Isn’t every American entitled to speak his/her mind? So why would a child be “wrong” in saying what he truly felt?
We live in an opinionated world. Everyone wants to speak his/her mind about something they thing is right, but their opinions can either be applauded or they can be sent to jail because of it. As an example, profanity is considered immoral by some, possibly even an act of Satan by others. When used in the wrong context, perhaps those who voice their opinions on the way the government (or some other high positioned person) runs things, could cause the person to face serious consequences. Of course, I don’t endorse profanity either, but since a person has a right to speak their mind, I don’t tell them to discontinue using it in my presence.
Maybe it’s time for a new definition of the Freedom of Speech, or it could finally be time to use it for what it truly means.
