Freedom of speech ... again
There seems to be no limit to the assault on liberty these days. The only thing Right-Wing Freaks and Left-Wing Freaks seem to be able to agree on is that the rest of us should have to seek permission from one side or the other to say, or think, or write, whatever it is we wish to say, or think, or write.
We have all heard no doubt, about the Sons of Confederate Veterans event at Stone Mountain Park a few days ago, and the lawsuits and political pressure brought to bear to try to infringe on their rights to freedom of expression and assembly.
Whatever one thinks about the
Sons of Confederate Veterans organization and what it stands for, the fact remains that one cannot castigate religious fanatics for attempting to ban expression they disagree with if one does not also hold fanatics of other political persuasions to the same standard when they commit the same sins.
The Goddess of Liberty, known as Libertas to the Romans, Eleutheria to the Greeks, and by countless other names in countless other cultures, is no respecter of persons, or political ideologies, or religious persuasions. It is for this reason that she is universally hated by the ignorant, the selfish, and the oppressive of every political stripe and religious persuasion. The Goddess Liberty is the ultimate bad girl, she is beautiful, she is intelligent, she owned by no mortal man, in this manner she embodies the ultimate virtue … freedom.
It is little wonder that the history of the human race is so plagued with the vices of crime, oppression, and ignorance, given our proclivity for the worship of the idols of ignorance wrapped in the (un)sacred robes of hypocrisy, and fogged by the incense of ideological falsehood. We revile liberty because we fear that our idols of dogma will melt in the bright sun of reason, and fade like the mist in the morning of intellectual debate. So, we scream and yell and protest when someone presents a perspective which offends the myths that we hold most sacred.
Truth is often uncomfortable. People will have opinions we find offensive, from the Sons of Confederate Veterans to Antifa, and everything in between. But when we attempt to abridge the freedoms of people and organizations with whom we disagree, we betray ourselves. Even worse, we subject ourselves to the same oppression. As stated above, the Goddess Liberty is no respecter of persons.
If we were not so committed to our own idols, those of ignorance, dogma, and intellectual laziness, we would see the danger presented by our own self- righteousness. Communists, fascists, Muslims, Hindus, Christians, liberals, and conservatives, all have made excuses for their leaders, and persecuted their critics because they cared more about their dogmas then they did about the truth. And seemingly they are blissfully unaware of the evil they perpetrate with their lies. All the while seeking justification in condemnation of the “other side”. And the circle goes round and round and round.
The right to free expression is the cornerstone of the Temple of Liberty. A temple worth defending. Wherever we look, we see the dangers of enforced dogma, from the deep conservative recesses of the church to the far-left extremes of the liberal thought police, we must be ever vigilant against any restrictions on the liberties of thought and reason.
We are only free so long as those we disagree with are free. There is no greater virtue to which the human race can aspire then liberty, because as mortal beings we will never know absolute truth, we perceive truth only as “through a glass darkly” as the apostle tells us. Therefore, we must defend each one’s search for truth as vigorously as we defend our own.
Liberty is a Goddess worthy of veneration because she embodies the ultimate virtue, the equality of reason, summed up in the saying, “I may vigorously disagree with what you say, but I will violently defend your right to say it.” I would that we all worship at the Temple of Liberty.