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“Allowing government to censor speech of unpopular groups will lead to suppression of views not approved by government”

Sep 14, 2017 9:12 am By Robert Spencer

Here is a good article on why our race toward authoritarianism and the forcible suppression of unpopular opinions may be ill-advised.

Here is the video of the Cal Poly event that is discussed in this article:

“Freedom of speech under fire,” by Al Fonzi, New Times, September 14, 2017:

Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States and the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, repeatedly affirmed the rights of conscience as embodied in the First Amendment’s protection of speech, religion, and peaceful assembly. To quote him:

“No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience.”

What was Jefferson referring to as “conscience”? Prior to the American Revolution, particularly in the early 1700s and late 1600s, Americans were forced to support churches not of their choosing. In some colonies, ministers of non-approved denominations were imprisoned and even hanged. From the memory of this intolerance came insistence upon a Bill of Rights being included in the newly ratified Constitution.

For 200 years these rights were tested and expanded by the courts into a clearly defined body of law that protected the most important rights of humanity: the right to speak your mind without fear of legal prosecution. It doesn’t mean that there won’t be social or economic repercussions; others have the right to disagree with your speech and exercise their own First Amendment right by sanctioning your speech via social isolation and vehemently disagreeing with your views while expounding upon their own. Objectionable speech is best opposed by reasoned speech, not by mob violence or censorship by government.

A growing, disturbing trend from a once vigorous defender of free speech emanates from the academic community. A few years ago I attended an event at Cal Poly that hosted Dr. Robert Spencer who specialized in the intellectual fight against radical Islamic Jihad. A number of Cal Poly students attended, most from various social science disciplines. As soon as Spencer began to speak, a number of students angrily left the room as a form of protest against Spencer’s message, exercising their disagreement via the First Amendment without, however, hearing a word he had to say. A number of Muslim students remained for Spencer’s entire talk, asking pointed questions at the end of the event.

At the end of Spencer’s talk a young woman stated that Spencer shouldn’t be allowed to speak on college campuses as her First Amendment rights protected her against (what she considered) hate speech. She was a senior, scheduled to graduate in a few weeks, a sad commentary on how indoctrination has replaced critical thinking in our universities. Several attorneys present in the audience proceeded to correct her misinterpretation of the First Amendment, which protects objectionable speech against the tyranny of the majority….

Allowing the government to censor the speech of unpopular groups will inevitably lead to suppression of all views not approved by the government.

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Filed Under: Featured, free speech Tagged With: Cal Poly, First Amendment


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Comments

  1. David Munson says

    Sep 14, 2017 at 9:25 am

    If the government would stop trying to pick winners and losers free speech would be ok. Violence by any group is unacceptable and allowing violence by some brings anarchy. The rule of law should prevail in all instances. I am a Trump supporter and not happy with Mr Trump over free speech issues.

  2. End goal spotted says

    Sep 14, 2017 at 9:34 am

    Allowing the government to censor the speech of unpopular groups will inevitably lead to suppression of all views not approved by the government.

    Christianity

  3. Dum Spiro says

    Sep 14, 2017 at 9:35 am

    A solution would be to give Jihad Watch and Robert Spencer a special protection from ever being shut down or marginalized.

    That should be reasonable…
    — Spero

  4. Tom says

    Sep 14, 2017 at 10:51 am

    Free speech, and the natural extension of having freedom of speech, freedom of the person, is and has been the one great shield that we have had to fight totalitarianism of all kinds and it has worked well only because those in academic and political circles supported it.

    Today however, thanks mainly to 2 great influences, social marxism (communism) and the Muslim Brotherhood (Islam) that have infiltrated and corrupted our educational and political systems, we are rapidly losing the protection of that shield.

    Freedom of speech has all but been eliminated in European countries and the UK, Scandinavia and Australia and is under tremendous attack by foolish idiotic quislings in the USA and Canada.

    The only answer is to completely remove politicians and educators who sympathize with ultra left wing ideals and Islamic supremacy ideology.

  5. Japetto Donatelli says

    Sep 14, 2017 at 12:00 pm

    Lucid, intelligent, factual, and persuasive. Thanks Spencer.

    It’s easy to understand why the left resorts to slander and violence to attack you: there’s no argument that could overcome the crystal clear logic you speak. I fear we have a tough fight ahead. The baseline recourse for muslims and the left will always be violence and intimidation, fair minded discourse offers them little in their quest to crush freedom and control our lives. It’s hard to know what else we can do, they’ve already been presented with the truth about islam, it ain’t going to get any “truer” by repeating. I’m thinking they’ll never “get it,” because they clearly don’t want to.

  6. mariam rove says

    Sep 14, 2017 at 12:35 pm

    They are trying to make our country like N.Korea/Iran/Saudi Arabia etc….m

  7. More Ham Ed says

    Sep 15, 2017 at 12:34 am

    I voted for NOT_hillary. Trump doesn’t understand that if you try to be friends with your enemies, then you will have no friends left. Chuck & Nancy. Slumber parties. “They’re good people”. Trump doesn’t understand what a leftist is, and has an affinity for leftists. He’s also juvenile, immature, reactive and not that smart. Somebody tell me with a straight face that you think Trump is intelligent. He became a billionaire by being hard-nosed & shrewd. Shrewd is not the same as intelligent.

    The Swamp Just Bounced Trump Into A European-Style Assault on Free Speech

    http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/13/kassam-the-swamp-just-bounced-trump-into-a-european-style-assault-on-free-speech

  8. Andy says

    Sep 15, 2017 at 11:04 pm

    Show this to left wing mentally disordered liberals, antifa snowflakes and they’ll say you are a fascist.

  9. John Forbes says

    Sep 15, 2017 at 11:47 pm

    The END of FREE SPEECH will herald in SHARIA & ISLAMIC STATES in EUROPE FIRST & eventually in the US !
    ALL of us had better demand that this ending of free speech STOP !!

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