Freedom of Speech

I am more than a little concerned about the tendency to immediately demand sanctions on people because they say something you don’t like.

Both the Left and the Right think it’s OK to demand people get fired for speaking their mind just because what they say isn’t what some group wants to hear.

The last time I looked, Freedom of Speech was still in the Constitution. That means the freedom to express unpopular, sexist, homophobic, anti-capitalism and even racist opinions. We can criticize people for saying that sort of stuff but we can’t punish them by throwing them in jail OR getting them fired from their jobs.

Now this is different from violating rules. If there’s a company policy that says no political buttons or no political posters on your office walls and you ignore that despite requests to comply, then get ready to pack your bags. But you shouldn’t be disciplined for something you say outside of work on your own time.

This also doesn’t include boycotts. If a company engages in a public policy that you disagree with, or does stuff you find offensive, then you are within your rights to shun their products and try to convince others to shun their products. That is a version of Free Speech.

No organization or company is exempt from criticism and that includes religions. Islam will never be compatible with Western Democracy as long as it teaches that criticism of Islam is a crime. At least for the moment, you cannot be both an obedient Muslim and a patriotic American. Luckily most Muslims ignore the more barbaric tenets of their religion in the same way that Christians ignore the ugly parts of theirs.

Even if you are championing a righteous cause, squelching the freedom of others to express different viewpoints violates the very core of what a democracy is supposed to stand for.