We need open debate

Re: Goldy talk shut down by fire alarm after hundreds gather to protest — March 21

In the ongoing debate over free speech in our society, of which Faith Goldy’s visit to Wilfrid Laurier University was the latest local chapter, there is a critical point, which, in my opinion, is too often overlooked.

If you demand that your opponents be silenced, you have just revealed that you have no true confidence in your position. Your real interest is in coercive power over your fellow human beings. This is true regardless of your political, religious, or philosophical stance.

If you dislike Ms. Goldy’s ideas, fine. However, have the courage and integrity to refute them in open debate, using facts and logic to support your arguments. Mindless chanting of slogans, or blatant efforts to intimidate dissenters into silence, does not constitute debate.

Ideas silenced in public are only driven underground, where they are more likely to be captured by a radical fringe rather than the moderate majority. This almost never ends well.

As an alumnus of Wilfrid Laurier, I am ashamed and embarrassed that my university would be complicit in the silencing of peacefully expressed opinions, even those contrary to current “approved ideology.”

Martin Mathieson

Kitchener