Freedom of Speech, Truth and Taking Responsibility For Your Actions
This blog post was inspired by my previous blog post, in which I shared a message I received in response to Bowing in Japan - Japanese Etiquette Explained.
Obama bows to the Japanese Emperor (AFP/File/Mandel Ngan)
All I did was share the truth about her views and respond to it, but when she realized her views had been made public, she wanted me to make it all go away instead of taking responsibility for her actions. All she did was state her opinion of the Obama bow and I honestly don't see why she seems to be so afraid of others finding out that she supports Obama...I mean, I just looked at her Twitter account and @barak_obama is publicly listed as someone she follows, so go figure!
I feel sorry for people like that who do not have enough pride or confidence in themselves to stand up for what they believe in...but I won't allow them to take away my right to freedom of speech either. This is precisely why I have chosen to re-post it instead of removing it completely.
From Wikipedia:
- Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak without censorship and/or limitation. The right to freedom of speech is recognized as a human right under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and recognized in international human rights law in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The ICCPR recognizes the right to freedom of speech as "the right to hold opinions without interference. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression".
- Noam Chomsky states that: "If you believe in freedom of speech, you believe in freedom of speech for views you don't like. Stalin and Hitler, for example, were dictators in favor of freedom of speech for views they liked only. If you're in favor of freedom of speech, that means you're in favor of freedom of speech precisely for views you despise."
- English biographer Evelyn Beatrice Hall's quote: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it," is often cited to describe the principle of freedom of speech (often misattributed to Voltaire) as an illustration of Voltaire's beliefs in Beatrice Hall's biography on him.
- "...more and more people really believe that they have a right to not be offended or have their feelings hurt, and that that supposed right is more important than the right to free speech." —William L. Pierce
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What may be offensive to a domestic culture could be the norm for a foreign culture. It is never bad form to know and understand cultural differences in a global economy. At times, just acknowledging the culture clash can be empowering for both parties. Never mind me, I am not that easily offended.
Very true, James...if only everyone could "agree to disagree" and accept others for who they are and what they believe in, regardless of their differences, the world would be a more harmonious place! :)
Leilani
Leilani- Good post. Obviously we all will not agree on everything, but we should be strong enough to hold our opinions out in public with pride, and be able to defend them against others who disagree. Hiding our opinons, is to me, kind of like telling a lie.
Thanks, Kevin! I agree with what you say 100%. To me, there is nothing more refreshing than a simple WYSIWYG person. Like my mom says, "Say what you mean and mean what you say!" :)
Leilani
It takes a certain level of maturity to admit when you are wrong and a lot of people just dont have that these days. I personally believe a lot of it is because of widespread dependency on drugs, both prescription and illegal. I bet if you did a poll you'd find that 2 out of 5 people are on anti-depressants or some other similar RX. These drugs effect your BRAIN. I meet people all of the time who are either ADD, ADHD, Bi-polar, manic depressant, etc. EVERYONE has been diagnosed with a "disorder" these days!! People are going to have to wake up and realize that the only people winning from these so-called disorders are the pharmaceutical companies and the politicians they support! They are handing out the kool-aid in their little brown bottles and people actually fall for it.
Until they clear the brain fog, they won't take responsibility, won't care if the constitituion is being demolished one page at a time, won't care if we become a communist nation and really won't care if America falls on her pretty face as long as they can still watch their "reality" shows and pop their pills to get them through the day. That's what these pills do...they make you NOT CARE!