Freedom of speech?

Submitted by John B. Taylor (United States), Nov 12, 2002 at 23:07

If the opposition's opinion should be "muffled" so that nobody can hear them, then we have censorship regardless how you look at it.

Never mind the fact that attacking Iraq is questionable at best. Never mind the fact that US is pretty much all by itself in this quest. Never mind the fact that oil (a.k.a big oil companies) might have something to with the war plans. The only thing that seems to matter to some people is that no hot bloodied Americans should oppose the attack, much less question its validity. ..

This is a slippery slope, when we try to quiet the opposition. Suggesting that the universities themselves should censor any opinion against the official government position is the end of the freedom as we know it. Not just freedom of speech, but freedom in general.

This sort of censorship breeds fear, which turns into mindless submission. People will be affraid of voicing their opinion. Neighbors will turn in each other by claim what the other has said. Fellow workers will be afraid to discuss anything in fear of losing their jobs. If you think this is far fetched just wait. Keep going down this road and see what happens. It won't be long when you can say: Welcome to the word of the dictatorship, allegedly the very same form of government that the US is trying to eliminate in Baghdad in the first place.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".