Feb 06 2009
THE RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH
Unfortunately, we do have the right to offend other human beings. The Constitution gives us the civil liberty to say what we think. Like Rush Limbaugh does every day, we can rant, rave and insult the President of the United States. We can even communicate in ways that create doom, gloom and hate, like all self righteous know it all men and women freely do every day in the USA. The key will be to use our right wisely. Otherwise, we create what we don’t need.The other day Rush Limbaugh even offended me, someone he’s never met, when he said, “I hope Obama fails.” What did he mean? I know he hates the democrats, but the fact is that our President is a democrat. Considering the fact that Obama is the President of the USA today, Rush seems to mean that he hopes we all fall apart. That offended me, but you see, he has the right to offend even those who hold onto hope, which means he can use his right to try with all his might to take my faith away. People like him do that every day. They betray our hope and faith. Rush does have the right to hate hope and faith, but I have the right to refuse to listen to him.
You see, he even has the right to abuse what made the USA great in the first place. We are and have always been based on hope and faith. With hope and faith, God provides the amazing grace it takes to achieve impossible dreams. In fact, I have no doubt, hope and faith is what the American dream is all about, but men like Rush who offend tend to mess it up for all of us. The question to ask men who offend is this: “What makes you so afraid of change?” After all, the fate of hate comes from what makes us afraid, so we need to choose the view we look through if we are ever going to change. We can be brave and communicate hope and faith, or we can abuse our right to free speech and make people afraid all over the USA.
The problem with free speech is the fact that we have the right to offend entire nations just because we can, but when we do, why do we wonder why other countries hate our guts so much? Like Rush, we can abuse what hope and faith gave us in the first place. When people communicate what they debate in negative and insulting ways, they make us defensive and defensiveness tends to make people refuse to listen to your negative point of view. Being a jerk never works. It’s not about being, “politically correct.” It’s about respect and the common decency of being polite. That’s why it’s wise to keep in mind that when people use their right to free speech as an excuse to be rude, they abuse what free speech means and what civil liberty brings.
It seems to me that men like Rush get a kick out of making people afraid when they rant, rave and complain. They use fright to manipulate what they debate, and their fear based way to communicate works for them, because you see, we need to be terrified to agree with what Rush says. Still, it’s also true that anyone who gets a kick out of making people afraid is nothing but a terrorist. They betray the hope and faith that made the USA great in the first place, but go ahead and offend if you must. After all, you have that right. Like Rush does, you can use your right to free speech as an excuse to abuse the hope and faith of our nation, but when you do, what does that make you? It makes you a disgrace to the USA and the hope and faith that made us great in the first place.
Then again, I must admit that I’m using my right to free speech to offend Rush and men like him in documented print. It’s my right to offend him too. That’s just what Americans do. Still, I suppose the reason our forefathers gave us the right to offend is because they knew the truth. When we face what makes us afraid, it makes us brave enough to see beyond what made us afraid in the first place. Only then do we find the hope it takes to find faith, that in fact, Obama has our best interests in mind at all times. After that, with hope and faith, God always provides the amazing grace to achieve impossible dreams, even in the USA where people complain, condemn and offend every day.
As Obama would say, “Yes we can.” We can offend, like Rush, if we must. We can rant and rave all day if need be, or simply because we choose to look through a fearful view. Still, those we offend will never listen to what we say anyway, and besides, we don’t need to be afraid in the USA. We need to use our rights in ways that communicate hope and faith. The key to keep in mind is what our forefathers already said. “United we stand, but divided, we all fall.”
So, to conclude, yes you do have the right to say what’s on your mind at any given time. We live in a free country. We have the right to choose whether to be afraid or to hold onto hope and faith. We also have the right to pursue what makes us happy, so the question we need to ask those who offend and condemn is this: “Do you want to be happy with hope and faith for better days, or do you just need to make people afraid as a way to be right?” The fact remains that we can do anything we find the faith to achieve. That’s why I’d like to conclude with the truth. Here in the USA, we have the right to offend, but in the end, hope and faith always wins.
