Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from October 11, 2012

Freedom of speech comes with responsibility

We need to return to civility and respectful disagreement in our national discourse instead of defending all types of rancorous discussions and fallacies under the banner of freedom of speech. I am a supporter of our nation's freedom of speech. It allows me to preach my beliefs from the pulpit, criticize my own government when need be and push back against bigots, who sow seeds of division under the banner of the First Amendment. I also strongly believe that with freedom of speech comes responsibility, and that our misuse of it can have serious consequences. There used to be a time in our socio-political discourse that discussing certain subjects in overly provocative and insulting forms was off-limits. Nowadays, personal attacks against politicians, even insulting the first lady, seem normal. Let me be clear that I am not an advocate for imposing America's standards of free speech upon other nations, nor do I advocate restricting our freedom of speech in America throug