This post is half in response to Russ MacDonald’s post “That’s Blasphemy” and half in response to the appalling terrorist attacks this week in Mumbai.
While reading MacDonald’s article and then shortly thereafter seeing reports of the bloodshed in India I began thinking about the very thin line that exists between discourse and action as well as how this is related to the boundary between belief and conflict.
MacDonald characterizes free speech as “sacred” and insists on the necessity of its preservation. The connection is also made by MacDonald between speech and belief and the inherent danger implied by their restriction i.e. thought control, persecution one’s convictions.
These dangers, as evidenced by the UN’s recent “blasphemy”, are not restricted to fiction (1984 comes quickly to mind), but are clearly a reality. I understand everyone’s concern about the control of what we say or believe but on the other hand, as I have already mentioned, the boundary between talking and doing is often exceedingly thin.
The question raised by MacDonald’s blog is: Is free speech a unanimous, unbounded right or are there instances where free speech can, and should be limited?
Personally, I believe in the power of the word. I believe that words are indescribably (pardon the irony) more powerful than any weapon and, contrary to cliché-correctness, have the potential to speak louder than actions. Words can be used to convince, control, or even break a person down. In this context I also believe in, despite the power of words, the liberty to express oneself freely. At the same time however, due to the power and meaningfulness of words, I also believe there are times where people would be better off if they kept they’re mouth shut.
The recent news out of Mumbai is that the well-organized attacks were carried out by a group of terrorists that call themselves “Deccan Mujahedeen” which in English translates roughly to “strugglers from Deccan” which is a plateau in Southern India. As with any terrorist attack this one defies all logic despite appearing to be rooted in religious differences. The group of Deccan Mujahedeen, who many are speculating might be fronting for another, larger terrorist group, are a group of essentially unknown Muslim men (although boys might be a more appropriate term as many have described them as being very young) that are, to this point, only known by their name and their belief.
It seems that even in these most random, irrational acts of violence, that there is a belief to be fought for and a name to hide behind. When terrorism strikes through acts of violence these are the first things people want to know. A name and a belief. Who and why?
What does this mean for free speech then? Even deeper, what does this mean for our right to believe and think? It seems logical that perhaps certain dangerous or seditious beliefs should be restricted in some way. (I am not in any way suggesting this be done)Yet this raises another question of what is worse, the potential violence incurred by these beliefs or the restriction upon our freedom?
When there is a terrorist attack it is usually the not the terrorist act but the backlash that is most destructive. In the terrible attacks in America on September 11th, 2001 almost 3000 people lost their lives. However in the even more terrible wars in Afghanistan and Iraq well over one million people have been killed to this point.
Over the past seven years there have been different names in front of different beliefs and through all this killing and devastation it seems that words begin to lose their power. Even the beliefs which are being fought for become forgotten amongst the loss and grief of those affected by the war. Yet in the end it will only be words that solve the conflict. Peace will not come from the silence left by exploding bombs. Only with the proclamation of the belief in peace, can peace actually be brought about.
Although terrorists such as the ones in Mumbai will try and reinforce their beliefs with violence they will not succeed for a belief is nothing without words and it is in this sense that MacDonald is completely right when he discusses the sacredness of free speech and the absurdity of impinging on it to protect a belief.
3 comments:
An interesting perspective which centres on the tension between freedom and responsibility.
I am free to blaspheme or incite but I choose not to because it will be hurtful and disrespectful to others.
For those who do not accept the responsibilty that comes with this freedom, there is a problem...society has to isolate and restrict their freedom. This is a scary thought and who is the judge?...and are the consequences terrorism and war?
Rodin
Thanks for your excellent post. You pinpoint exactly the issue I was getting at.
We have all heard that "With great power comes great responsibility", but what happens when those with this power ignore the responsibility part? What happens when words become weapons and belief becomes control?
Clearly in these types of situations some sort of line has to be drawn and freedom cannot be absolute, but as you say knowing when this line has been crossed is incredibly hard.
Perhaps in a way though this is the beauty of free speech. Perhaps it is because of our liberty to speak out and stand for our beliefs and morals that we can challenge those that lack responsibility. When someone steps out of line, everrybody suffers, so ultimately the responsibility is everybody's to stand up for what is right and draw these lines for ourselves and for each other.
We will never be able to progress and overcome overbearing regimes if they are able to restrict our freedom of speech and thought.
I would argue that actions do in fact speak louder than words, as was demonstrated in Mumbai. It seems unlikely to me that these terrorists were fighting in the name of freedom. If anything they were fighting against freedom, and restricting their speech would in no way have stopped these attacks.
The only way to ever get past all of this is to have a transparent expression of ideas. Ideas, when expressed and documented, are able to transcend time and space, reaching more and more people. I believe that good ideas will always eventually win out, so the only way for this to begin is to allow complete freedom.
Protestants (for example) were heretics 600 years ago (just ask Jan Hus). But through technological inovations and the eventual increases in freedom of speech, these new ideas were able to take hold. Ever since we have been inching closer to an inclusive secular society, all through the power of good ideas.
Will, you mentioned in The Fear or Learning the young women who were attacked by acid on their way to school. The only reason they were going to school was because of the power of free ideas, and they were attacked in an attempt to suppress these ideas. What they have to do now is let their actions speak for them, and return to the classroom.
RM (The Other Guy)
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