September 16, 2008
Free to speak...
Well, somewhat free.
I remember when it started to turn. About ten years ago. I was still bi-vocational then, spending half my life in media and half of it as someone who'd speak to large groups of people, said speaking sourced, or rooted in, a particular ancient 'sacred' text.
"You can't say that..."
They'd say.
"What do you mean I can't say that? That's what it says."
"Yeah, but that's 'hate speech'."
"No friend, that's the Bible..."
The Bible as 'hate speech'? Crazy. Last time I checked, the point of a free society was that we're free. Free to believe things others think are crazy.
"Yeah but what if I find your beliefs 'hateful'?"
Well, 'hateful' is a matter of opinion, which is why we're (supposedly) protected by the charter of rights and freedoms. I may find some of the things you believe or do to be 'hateful' but that doesn't mean I get to force you to stop.
And you shouldn't be able to stop me either.
Except I have friends who've lost their jobs or their Churches or their tenure because they believe and practice things that some have decided are beyond the pale. And once we start doing that, once we start forcing people to conform to a set standard of belief, we're on the road to fascism friend.
And the sad thing is that most of the ruckus is not caused by ordinary people like you and me but by lobby groups. The gay rights lobby or the christian right lobby or the energy lobby or the environmental lobby.
Extremists.
But the joke is that these extremists (as those who lobby typically are) accuse ordinary folk like you and me of being extreme in our views.
(I bet that nine times out of ten ordinary gays and ordinary christians and ordinary muslims and ordinary jews and ordinary oil workers and ordinary tree huggers would get along just fine over a pint and a lively discussion...)
It's so twisted--this accusing us of hate-mongering thing--it's hard to believe it happens.
But we're in an election cycle so you should probably stop feeling bad about it and get on the phone to your local MP candidate and ask them where they stand on this. Ask them to send you an email and keep that email in your records so that you can re-send it to them once they're in power.
'Cause I bet you that ordinary Germans and ordinary Russians and ordinary Iranians and ordinary Venezuelans and ordinary Cubans were once just like ordinary Canadians...
TD
(feedback@thedailytv.ca)
