To begin with, there's no such thing as completely 'free' speech.
Actually, let me row back on that a little: you are free to say absolutely anything you want, as long as you have a tongue in your head and breath in your lungs. But of course there may be consequences arising from that speech.
Shouting FIRE in a crowded auditorium is one of the classic cases where public safety overrides freedom of speech. More recently we've seen the introduction of 'incitement' legislation. This is where you can be prosecuted for egging people to riot or commit crimes.
Opponents of political correctness were worried at the introduction of laws banning 'hate speech,' perhaps because the best way to demonstrate someone's abhorrent folly is to let them open their mouths and express it.
But, like it or not, we have placed limits on our freedom of expression to protect the values of our society. These values now include some that are anathema to strict Christian law; namely, society (at least on paper) now thinks that, rather than being a biblical abomination, gay people are ok.
A Baptist preacher in Cumbria has become one of the first Christians to fall foul of this discrepancy between secular law what is mandated in a certain bronze-age book by Middle-Eastern tribesmen who scribbled down many silly folk tales and ignorant prejudices.
"I felt deeply shocked and humiliated that I had been arrested in my own town and treated like a common criminal in front of people I know."
-Dale McAlpine, Daily Telegraph, 2nd May 2010
Would you feel deeply shocked and humiliated if a stranger pointed at you in the street and called you an abomination unto God? Some people consider that kind of behaviour anti-social, and by 'some people' I mean all of the rest of us. And you're not helping your case when you start a sentence with "I am not homophobic but…
…sometimes I do say that the Bible says homosexuality is a crime against the Creator”
Well, try finishing some sentences that begin with 'I'm not racist but…' or 'I'm not saying Jews are evil but…' There's no graceful way out of it, Dale.
“My freedom was taken away on the hearsay of someone who disliked what I said"
It's not just 'dislike,' incitement to hatred is a crime.
Still, one doesn't have to look very far to see instances of the religious getting offended by everyone else's free speech (see the South Park controversy), and they seem happy enough with the blasphemy laws.
This case shows that the rubber is finally hitting the road. Modern secular societies have worked out a common system of morality that is acceptable and appropriate, for the most part, to our current era, state of enlightenment, and place in evolution. The Bible remains a static relic of superstition, bigotry, and nescience.(†)
Of course, Christians will claim that they have been battling against the powerful agents of Satan, in the form of kings and pagan civilizations, for many centuries now, and this is just another test of their devotion to God.
Good luck with all that. I had a crappy boss like that once.
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Endnotes:- † Absence of knowledge or awareness; ignorance. I like the contrast with the word 'science.' [back ↩]
4 Comments
You say: "Modern secular societies have worked out a common system of morality that is acceptable and appropriate, for the most part, to our current era…" Have these societies as a whole worked out the common system of morality, or is it the media-supported elite liberals who have done this? Is a morality appropriate to 'our current era' something that might collapse or be discarded if and when that era comes to an end, through economic or environmental (or demographic) disaster and/or war? Social morality has changed in western industrial societies, but human nature has not changed. Surely if the human nature that existed 5,000 years ago is the same that exists in the current era of secularised disenchantment we may need similar values for living and social interaction?
Yes, some good points there, thanks.
But to paraphrase Dawkins: We no longer believe in slavery, subjugation of women, stoning people for adultery, death for apostasy, etc–all part of biblical and Koranic morality.
You have to cherry-pick acceptable morals from religious literature, in doing so you must discard a lot of very repugnant ideas. We've grown out of those beliefs through secular moral philosophy and rational discussion.
You're free to advocate a return to these values if you really think that human nature hasn't changed at all. I'll stick with the media elites until we can progress even further.
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Well said Darwin.
I'm disgusted that people are able to go out protesting on the streets regarding a persons private sexual orientation.
I came across this recently, where some religious nutcases were protesting at a funeral of a US soldier. The father is suing the Church. It's going to the US Supreme court soon http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_funeral_protests
The same thing with people who protest at abortion clinics.. I don't care what these people want to believe on their own time, but stop going around harassing people and trying to force your opinions on everyone else.
For God's sake. The man merely wants to pray away the gay and your all on his back. The Bible no longer, given the unfortunate advent of political correctness – think of all the tickets you could flog for a stoning in Thomond Park, as opposed to a game between Lims FC and FC Barca for instance – recommends stoning people for some of the above, ref apostasy, adultery etc etc, but the Koran does, according to some. In fact, when your stoning some wretch, your morally obliged to have a copy of the Koran under your rock flinging arm. You'll look like a bit of a, er, shirt lifter, flinging rocks in this fashion,- there's something very Monty Phyton about it all.However, the important point, according to the Koran, is that you won't be able to get any leverage on your throw, thus your not trying to kill the apostate, who obviously deserves to die, but merely endorsing your Allah given franchise like a good Muslim.
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