Free Speech

I was just privy to an email from one of the so-called progressive sites.

One of the members had taken issue with another clearly junior member who felt that he needed to question an assumption. The empowered one said that their site doesn’t need bickering or small talk because the leaders intuitively all know what is ‘right’ and they were all too busy getting done what needed to get done.



And this was a political site that prided itself on being 'progressive'.....



Hello!



Isn’t discussion and dialogue and debate what America is all about?



Didn't he ever hear of Free Speech?.



Did our progressive friend forget that the Continental Congress spent hours, days, weeks andmonths debating the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution? And that provisions of those documents came together only after days of questioning, debate, discussion.....



These documents weren't handed down like the TEn Commandments; they had to be crafted to please all parties.



And it involved much discussion and dialogue.



And the strength of our documents has to do with the lively cross-currents of conversation and dialogue that took place and the ability of man to come to agreement after all the facts were in.



Did our friend also realize that the interest in containing speech and dialogue was inimical to the interests and protections of our way of life and, if anything, represented precisely the kind of language you might find in a burgeoning dictatorship where no dialogue was permitted?



I worry about people who think they know all the answers and that they don’t need any further input or think that they've been somehow blessed to decidefor their friends.....



They are usually the ones who become so rigid that they can’t adjust to change and fall apart or self-righteous that they are unable to participate in a society predicated on free speech and argument.



Need I remind my friend that the New England Town halls were perfect examples of how a democracy should function.



Yet, our friend, who labels himself among the leading protagonists of this so-called Progressive site seems to have lost his mooring and in this, there is a lesson for all.




When a leader or someone who tries to influence our thinking tells us that we don’t need to debate something, that to debate it would be denigrate the argument or introduce bickering, a little red light should go off and start you to question his or her assumptions.



The wonder of this country is not that we all march together but that we are a nation of individuals who are free to express their differences and if someone tells you that ‘it is not necessary’ or that the matter has already been discussed, beware.



Remember, America’s strength is in its ability to come together when the cause is right and only after long hours of discussion, debate and inquiry and come up with solutions that are based on understanding and compromise.



It is what made us great and nobody should tell us that if we belong to a group or an organization that we cannot discuss its charter, provisions or aims; that it is un-American; ironically, it is the opposite that’s true.



Thank God that we believe it is okay to argue, debate or question our most sacred assumptions; may it always be that way.



Les Aaron.