(no subject)
I have a lot of thoughts on the Westboro Baptist Church's Supreme Court decision, but not a whole lot of time to really voice them, so I will be brief and expound upon a thought I had elsewhere.
When we allow the likes of Fred Phelps the protection of the First Amendment, the freedom to spread his hate and lies without being silenced, the ability to shout his message from the rooftops if he so desires, what can that possibly say about us as a culture and as a nation?
It says, "We are not afraid of you. We do not fear your words, we do not fear your hate. We know that when you speak, the better angels of those who hear you sit upon our shoulders, whispering words of reason, words of love, words of compassion into our hearts, and we believe in one another's better angels. Let your voice be heard, angry old man, because the light of day will show you for what you are: weak, frightened, helpless, and ineffectual. Your words are not a danger, because you have nothing new, nothing revelationary, nothing revolutionary to say."
It is possible to grant someone the protections of the First Amendment as an act of scorn as much as for any other reason. Silence him? Why bother? Even if I didn't defend his right to speak as if it were my own, I still wouldn't consider so pathetic a target worthy of the attention required.
I love you all.
Yeah, even him, in my own way.
When we allow the likes of Fred Phelps the protection of the First Amendment, the freedom to spread his hate and lies without being silenced, the ability to shout his message from the rooftops if he so desires, what can that possibly say about us as a culture and as a nation?
It says, "We are not afraid of you. We do not fear your words, we do not fear your hate. We know that when you speak, the better angels of those who hear you sit upon our shoulders, whispering words of reason, words of love, words of compassion into our hearts, and we believe in one another's better angels. Let your voice be heard, angry old man, because the light of day will show you for what you are: weak, frightened, helpless, and ineffectual. Your words are not a danger, because you have nothing new, nothing revelationary, nothing revolutionary to say."
It is possible to grant someone the protections of the First Amendment as an act of scorn as much as for any other reason. Silence him? Why bother? Even if I didn't defend his right to speak as if it were my own, I still wouldn't consider so pathetic a target worthy of the attention required.
I love you all.
Yeah, even him, in my own way.