January 13, 2008...9:53 pm
Are you really for free speech?
Some people are unhappy (to say the least) that a Ezra Levant was interrogated by the government because someone filed a complaint about him publishing those famous Islam cartoons.
Of course, the temptation is for everyone to start arguing that government can’t restrict free speech, that there should not be a system in place that would allow Muslims to complain, that there should be no mind-police, etc.
But, ask yourself, where can this go? Would you be OK if anti-Semitic cartoons were published? Would you be OK if racist cartoons were published? Would you allow anything? Should the government never interfere?
I am not sure where my line is. Definitely, I tend to gravitate towards the free speech side. Yet, Ezra said his intent should not be questioned by the government. I reject that. The government should worry about people trying to incite violence. The government should worry about racists. Intent matters.
We have seen what speech can lead to (Nazi Germany, Rwanda massacres, etc). These events can happen.
Now obviously, who would be the idiot that, if interrogated, would say his intent is to incite violence? My point is not that the interrogatory will necessarily serve any purpose. My point is that for Ezra to claim that his intent should not be a concern to the government is disingenuous.
UPDATE: Some additional clips here.
2 Comments
January 13, 2008 at 11:46 pm
In a subsequent video, Levant allows that there are valid areas where the government has a legitimate right to restrict freedom of speech, such as in not inciting riot or murder, etc.
However, what Levant is being charged for by the government is nothing so dramatic. The cartoons in question were, in western liberal terms, trivial. Far, far worse cartoons have been published about Jews and about Jesus Christ. The cartoons were editorial cartoons regarding political situations, for example the one most complained about shows Mohammed with a bomb as a turban. Is that not fair speech in light of the number of Muslims who subscribe to suicide bombing as a political weapon?
We all have a duty to be concerned about government controlling political speech!! What if the Bush administration tried to limit the editorial cartooning of their Christian behavior? Would ‘We the People’ complain? You better believe we would.
January 13, 2008 at 11:59 pm
If Levant acknowledges that the government sometimes has to intervene in the matter, then I have no problem with that position. It’s just that it’s not what he said in that clip. Can you post a link to the subsequent video?
Even though I am Muslim, I personnally wasn’t offended by the cartoons since I also have internalized those western standards. But, I am not the only person reading these cartoons. Some might take offense, but worse, some might be influenced in a dangerous way.
Again, I would gravitate towards the free speech argument, but there is a difference between fair speech and smart speech. I don’t want to pull out an Ari Fleischer here and say people have to be careful about what they say but we have to understand the power of speech. Sometimes the government should intervene (I am just not sure when). In this case, it was triggered by a complaint. We could envision other triggering mechanism.
Leave a Reply