The Death of Free Thought
How the days of grade-school immunities are sorely missed in this country. The old phrase “names will never hurt me” has fallen out of our language just as it has fallen out of our practice. It has even gone beyond simple name calling to include anything that goes against your own belief. Today it seems almost impossible to even comment on a controversial topic without offending someone. Homosexuals are offended by messages that homosexuality is wrong while slogans like “Gay is ok” offend heterosexuals. Volatile articles are offensive to some readers but censorship is offensive to others. So how is it safe to speak in today's world? If one was to cry out against the war in Iraq could it be done without fear of violent responses from the offended supporters of the war? No. Words spoken, written, communicated in anyway must be carefully monitored and censored. All this is doing is destroying America's ability to think and to analyze controversial issues. America's fear-induced self-censorship is destroying its free thought.
Americans censor themselves in their speech to degrees that would have appalled past generations. With the level of censorship we have today it is doubtful that the American revolution would have begun. Those Americans, then simply colonists, with views against Britain would most likely kept their dreams of confederacy a secret and failed to set ablaze the torch that brought about the birth of this nation. Americans do it in their speeches: terminology is changed to less offensive words like “African-American” instead of black. Americans do it in the courts of law: i Several law students refused to take up a divorce case against a lesbian mother because it would be against political correctness (Hentoff). American's censor themselves in all forms of media: omitting articles, shows, productions of any form that reflect a view point against the beliefs of the masses.
Why? Why have Americans become so obsessed with censorship and political correctness? Fear. After the tragedy of 9-11 another tragedy began. Since that terrible day Americans have been wrapped in blind fear of terrorism. Anyone who spoke out against America's strike against terrorism was considered to be unpatriotic. Protestors against the war were shunned and cast out by the fearful. Those who made a stand to show us that ours freedoms were what really made America were shot down by the “real” patriots.
It wasn't only the war that began to throw the water of censorship on the fire of freedom, racial tensions pushed the first amendment into the gutter before 9-11 was ever conceived. Blacks, Jews, Hispanics, Muslims, feminists, gays, all cried out against oppression and racism, wether real or conceived. The cry became so huge and so violent that authors, speakers, administrators, children, all citizens of the earth were forced to withhold anything that these groups claimed offended them no matter how abstract it may have been. Flemming Rose posted several cartoons in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. These cartoons caused such an uproar in the Muslim community for their “anti-Islam” messages that violent clashes erupted throughout the world. Several people were even killed over doodles. Rose tried to defend himself: “We have a tradition of satire when dealing with the royal family and other public figures, and that was reflected in the cartoons. The cartoonists treated Islam the same way they treat Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and other religions. And by treating Muslims in Denmark as equals they made a point: We are integrating you into the Danish tradition of satire because you are part of our society, not strangers. The cartoons are including, rather than excluding, Muslims.” (Rose) But it helped little. With frightening results like this it's no wonder that self censorship has taken off like it has.
Self censorship has taken hold because it has become the only means for which to defend one's self from such violent outbreaks. If no one is offended then there will be no uproar. Or at least if the minority is offended then they most likely will practice their own self censorship and keep their rebuttals to themselves. They fear the angry retaliations of the masses. They fear being cast out for their opposing views. Glen Loury said it perfectly “Heretics are unwelcome within the councils of the faithful.” (Self censorship in public discourse)
That is exactly what has happened in this country. Heretics have been cast out even if their ideas are legitimate and worth noting. Free thought is erased if ideas are never contested. Challenging beliefs either strengthens them when they are proved right or removes the obstacle blocking us from the truth when they are proved wrong. As a child one can accept “truth” without questioning it, however as we age and mature humans find an urge to question “truth”. They contest it, argue it, attack and defend it in order to weigh it against the standards of fact and logic. This is the true way to identify “truth”. If there is no avenue for contestation, if no idea is ever challenged how can it be trusted as truth? It must be accepted without question, one must lower themselves to a child's mindset.
Is it not possible to professionally and intellectually discuss differences in belief? Has it become impossible to argue against a position without drawing guns upon your own head? Yes. The sad truth, the depressing reality, is that it has become impossible. People are “offended” even when their beliefs are challenged tactfully and respectfully. Janis Besler, publisher for the Sacramento Bee, was booed off the stage for arguing that the government had torn away too many of our liberties since 9/11.(Taylor) Fear and unnecessary public outcry has silenced the voices of the intellectuals.
However the voice of the foolish has not been stopped. Too simple to recognize the threat they continue to spit out their useless, derogatory garbage only fueling censorship to further bury our ability to think. Newspaper after newspaper have come under fire for printing poorly written articles filled with racism and hate. The Daily Illini, a paper at the University of Illinois, ran a story outright blasting Jews. It made blunt and stupid remarks on how Jews “Manipulated America”, it even went as far to say “the Jews might face another Holocaust”. (Fish) All this succeeded in doing was enraging the Jewish community and further propping up the argument for censorship. It's stories like this, racist trash that give censorship a good look. Should these be censored? No. Instead they should simply be ignored as mindless and affectless.
The murder of free thought committed by the obsession with censorship must be stopped before it can finish its killing blow. However the only way it can be stopped is for the fear to stop. The fear of contestation, the fear of another's belief, and the fear of public excommunication. The fear of the people and of the media must both be ended for freedom to truly rise again. It is saddening to say that as patriotic as one may be there is no way to end the fear. It is too deeply entrenched now for it to ever end. War in the middle east, terrorism in the cities, rapists and murders lurking behind every corner, identity theft, all fueling fear. And so comes censorship, propelled by this unrelenting fear. It brings with it a promise of peace and the death of our free thought.
Works Cited:
Fish, Stanley. "The Free-Speech Follies." Purposes a Prentice Hall Pocket Reader
(2007): 111-112.
Hentoff, Nat. ""Speech Codes" on Campus and Problems of Free Speech." Purposes A Prentice Hall Pocket Reader (2007): 103-110.
Loury, Glen C.. "Self Censorship in Public Discourse: A Theory of "Political Correctness" and Related Phenomena."
Rose, Flemming. "Why I published Those Cartoons."
Washington Post 2/19/06
Robbins, Tim. "A Chill Wind Is Blowing In this Nation." Purposes a Prentice Hall Pocket Reader (2007): 119-123.
Taylor, Stuart Jr.. "It's Time to Junk the Double Standard On Free Speech." Purposes a Prentice hall Pocket Reader (2007): 115-118.
