FTR From Making Voltaire Roll Over In His Grave
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
Or not.
Some protesters are opposed to giving such a “messenger of hate” a forum. I’m not so concerned.
Perhaps if I doubted the existence of absolute truth, and the sovereignty of God I would be more concerned, but because I do believe I am not concerned about such pesky flies of lies; especially when they are willing to present their ideas openly where they can be debated in the public forum. The very idea of a public forum is that the best ideas win out, which applies whether you are a born-again fundamentalist Christian or an elbow-patched atheist.
What I am against is the fearful suppression of discussion. Which is not to say that anyone has a right to speak, but rather they have a right to seek a market for their ideas. And I also choose to accept a world where people are free to adopt weird religions if they want to, so long as they don’t force me to do anything I don’t want to, and don’t mess with the laws.
But these are the very things many people are afraid of. And I can understand that, I just think they are wrong to be afraid, and that fear does not justify mistreatment. If we allow this to become the case we are that very thing which we fear.
