When I began following free speech controversies, I was a First Amendment absolutist. Now I’m something less comfortable. I still think free speech is a good idea, certainly better than alternatives I’ve come across, but I’ve learned that everyone has a line that can’t be crossed, a word that sticks in the craw, an image that feels like a kick to the gut. The First Amendment, bless its little heart, always eventually lets us down (self-protection is innate, tolerance an acquired taste), so how can I not be bothered by its limitations?

This is a running log of arguments over free speech – some silly, some funny, some hard -- because free speech is all about argument. Being able to speak our mind makes us feel good and it's essential to real democracy and fairness. Yet, in the end, one of the best reasons to keep our speech rights intact is that we miss them when they’re gone.

Friday, February 4, 2011

I didn't make it up; people really do say it all the time

So a principal, someone who apparently thinks herself a tolerant and reasonable person, refuses to let a student stage a play because its language and subject -- the Columbine massacre -- brought a complaint from one parent.  “I’m not a fan of censorship in any way...’’ said the principal, “But this play... is so alarming and so unredeeming..."  And on it goes.
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