Freedom of SpeechDon't you just love the sound of that. Makes one think of the myriad of possibilities of things to say. Especially when considering the fact that it is a right guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America. My, doesn't that sound seductive. "I can say anything I want to say and nobody can stop me or do anything about it." But wait a minute! Is this really the way it is? Does freedom of speech mean that we can say anything without fear of consequences?
It is a fact of life that there is a price to pay for everything we say and do. Sometimes the price is high, sometimes low and sometimes we break even. But rest assured there is a price for everything. So before we say or do anything it would be wise to weigh the cost. So what say we do that, hummmm?
Let's say you are in a chat room where the posted rules say "no advertising of any kind". You exercise your right of free speech and post the address of a web site. Now this is a clear violation of the rules. So the owner of the chat room has the right to kick you out. Whose rights prevail? All of you who said the owner of the chat room are 100% correct. Because your rights end when they begin to infringe on the rights of others. So the cost of exercising your rights could be banishment from the chat room.
Now let's say another visitor to the chat room decides to express a negative opinion of a certain group of people. And let's say it is a VERY negative opinion. Is that person entitled to their opinion? Certainly!! Is he/she free to express that opinion. Of course. Just as others are free to disagree and refuse association with that person. There again the cost could be banishment from the room.
So does this mean that we can say anything about anybody? Afraid not boys and girls. What we say about others has to be the truth to avoid such nasty things as a civil suit (sued in court for money) or a criminal trial (possible jail time). Slander (telling untruths about a person) is illegal.
"OK, so I can pretend to be another person though, right?" Wrong again. That's called fraud or identity theft and is subject to civil or criminal trials.
I can hear you all out there asking "so what happened to free and open debate?" In a word, nothing. We are all still entitled to our own opinions. We are all still entitled to express those opinions. It is not necessary for all of us to have the same opinion about everything or even anything. And it is perfectly acceptable to discuss or debate those opinions. The limitation is when one of the parties in the debate begins to feel harassed. And harassment is also illegal.
So do we have freedom of speech? You betcha we do. But before exercising that freedom it would be wise to weigh the cost. Make sure it is a cost you are willing to pay.
Peaches