I like to think of myself as conservative, non-radical in most
respects. I believe that most laws are just; and that, in general, we
have little reason to protest. Yet...
I don't favor making it illegal to burn the flag. My father and I had
some argument about this. We both strongly oppose burning the flag; but I
would not make it illegal. (Let the jury decide whether a man be guilty
of assault and battery for slugging the guy who set the flag afire. And
do ticket the person for the incidental crimes of burning without a
permit, littering, etc.)
If we make it illegal to advocate breaking the law, does that then
mean that they can ban all publications of bomb making books, books
detailing how biological weapons could be made in your basement, etc?
What about books regarding, say, prescription drugs to non-doctors?
It IS illegal to have those controlled pharmaceuticals if one is not a
doctor or if one has not been legitimately prescribed such... Yet when
the FDA tried to do just that, including the banning of publication on
vitamins used for non-doctor medical therapy, Congress received the
largest torrent of mail protesting that to date!
And what of publications advocating the breaking of local laws? Can
we ban those books too, since the acts may be illegal here or there?
I think the answer to censorship can be found in the Declaration of
Independence, a document which could have been illegal under British
rule. The very point is that it does exist.
If we go back further, there was the case of Peter Zenger, who
published things that the British Government did not want the colonists to
read. I forget what I wrote in my grammar school report on him, but I
believe he was publishing seditious literature; literature advocating not
only the breaking of laws, but the rejection of the entire established
government itself. Peter won his trial. Under British law!
At the start of my web career, I was offered a hefty sum and plenty
of work for putting up racist literature on the web. I turned that down.
Yet, much as I am offended by it, much as I would rather starve than
advocate harm to my fellow humans; I would not ban it. We must be free to
discuss, argue, etc. in print, and by extension, the web. As to advocacy
of crimes against others... The commission of the crime is the crime.
Sometimes contributing factors are taken into account, such as liability
for suggesting, commissioning, or ordering the deed itself. That, however,
is decided by a jury in each case.
If we ban publication of hate literature per se, where does it stop?
Does pornography then follow as a hate crime against women? (Or Women's
pornography, a hate crime against men?) Perhaps in some cases it is.
Others have tried to ban publication of information on abortion on the
net, in the Communications Decency Act. That was deemed unconstitutional.
Even when the cattle industry tried to prove damages regarding Oprah
Winfree's comments that she would not eat beef, comments that were illegal
under state laws regarding damaging a food product's marketability, those
were struck down.
Where does it stop? Is not the existence of the Declaration of
Independence, and the clause in the Constitution enough to establish that
we have a right to publish our thoughts, and those who act upon those
thoughts are responsible for their own actions?
And is not the existence of such literature a warning to others that
such things DO exist, and that the advocators are people who need to be
watched?
I may abhor the message, I may even scream in protest or warning over
it! But the medium is more important than any one message it may carry.
And that medium must be OPEN to let each of us decide, for ourselves, how
to interpret what we read.
At least... till it is clear libel or slander, in contravention to
fact.
Let speech be free, so that we may know... who you are.
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