Do we believe in freedom enough to fight for it for others with whom you fundamentally disagree? Perhaps the litmus test for this question is the degree to which each of us is willing to defend the right of all people to voice their opinions – even if those opinions are noxious and odious to our sensibilities.
Yesterday, I was verbally accosted by a woman sitting in front of a store with a display for a political point of view that I find particularly unappealing; and, yet, it was somehow comforting that she was free to sit there with her posters and espouse her beliefs.
Woodrow Wilson said, “I have always been among those who believed that the greatest freedom of speech was the greatest safety because if a man is a fool, the best thing to do is to encourage him to advertise the fact by speaking.”
Are you genuinely willing to fight for the rights of all protected speech – even if that speech is directly offensive to you and those whom you love?