Freedom Of Speech

Rozie37, I hardly know how to respond to some of your beliefs. You say that freedom of speech should have limits. How can an individual think twice before offending others when he/she does not know they will be offended? I think intention must be a part of it. Was there intent to offend others, or was it an accident? How can there be freedom of speech when we have to constantly feel like we are walking around on eggshells? I say things without realizing what it means, and when someone explains to me what it sounds like, to them, I apologize and say that is not what I meant. Sometimes the English language makes it hard for us to communicate effectively in this country, and that is why we need more discussions. What is in an individual's heart is sometimes not what others hear coming out of his/her mouth.

I think it's very dangerous when we contemplate restricting freedom of speech because it offends a large group of people. I agree that there sometimes comes a point where one person exercising their freedom can impinge on another persons freedom but offending someone is not taking away their freedom. If we have freedom of speech then surely the offended party has a right of reply? As for the suggestion that anyone speaking in the publics hearing should be censored my first question would be who does the censoring? Who decides what is and isn't appropriate for the public to hear? Personally as an intelligent adult I prefer to decide for myself what I want to hear about and if something offends me (and many things do) then I'll exercise my right to freedom of speech to speak out about it.

Good morning Rozie37, You've certainly openned a dialogue on a very important topic. Being open to hearing other's perspectives on such a cherished freedom as speech remains as important today as it was 231 years ago, when The Founding Father's penned the Declaration of Independence. For generations, American children grew up with the verse: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me." I know I recited it when other children may have teased or taunted me. As I'm sure most American kids did. The power behind those words is monumental. Endowing ourselves and our children with the inner strength to not be affected in the face of another's insensitivities is fundamental in not only preserving the principles of free speech, but also in creating true diversity. How can we, as a nation, tackle the big issues if we're so hypersenstized to something as insignificant as one mans thoughts or statements, regardless of how inappropriate they might be? Some may not like hearing this, but it's the truth: Censorship is a necessary tool used by fascist's. Those who wish to rule and dominate. Censorship is not a principle cherished by democracies or representative republics. We cannot have a free society if a segment of the culture is controlling what can and cannot be said. The tides of governance will always shift. Meaning that representatives will be elected into and out of office. If we empower the current electorate to begin censoring speech today, what happens when representatives that hold contrary views to our own are elected tomorrow? The reason why this nation has succeeded is because despite the winds of change in our electorate, the principles to which they are bound do not change. If we start messing with that now, then this will no longer be America, "The home of the free and the land of the brave".

I do think think that the term Freedom Of Speech, is greatly taken out of context especially by those people who see it as a forum to air their petty dislikes and their prejudices. Originally the act was written so the government of the day could not jail people for expressing their opinions especially if the opinions were different from the government. But today its really an umbrella that allows people to hide under.

No, I do not believe that Don Imus meant to offend black women with the comments he made. And no, I do not believe that rappers mean to offend women, either, even though they constantly do it. It is the shock value they get from it. This morning I went out to buy some gas and a young black man drove up to the pumps with his windows open and his radio blaring with music where the musicians were saying the "N" word over and over. Under my breath, I said "Turn your stupid radio off!!" Hey, who are you to say how our young girls are thinking? You and I do not know what anyone is thinking until we ask him/her. There needs to be more open discussions to encourage communication in our society because, like I previously stated, the English language makes it hard to communicate. For example, the word read is in 2 tenses (present and past). Also, the Red Sea was once known as either the Reed Sea or Reid Sea (I can't remember which) because of the reeds or reids growing in it not because of the red color, even though it is red. Do you understand what I am saying? Even though I know what I mean, someone else may not and take it differently and that is what causes so many confrontations. I am not making excuses for anyone; I am only stating the problems that go along with freedom of speech. It is not that we should not have it, it is the fact that we need to know the meaning behind our words. We should question one another's intentions for better clarification. Better clarification leads to better communication on both sides.

i was actually talking about this in my public speaking course a few weeks ago we were talking about yelling out racial slurs in public in front of ppl that could get offended. personally i dont think its very mature for one to do that but i mean according to freedom of speech you can say whatever you want to buts I dont think it can be anything depending on the crowd thats around.

Freedom of speech is typical of all countries that adhere to democratic principles. If the civil society organizations are seeing something terribly wrong that is taking place in the country, they usually use the principle to inform the people and the international community! In my country, there is alot of talk against arbitrary actions of government and usually radio talk shows smack of too much freedom of speech because those who speak do so a little beyond the limit. The good thing with this princile of free speech is that if you over speak, you face such charges as defamation, which means free speech must be exercised responsibly. So by and large it is a good idea to allow for free speech and free press-it builds democracy and improves civic competence!

yeah u r right but freed of sppech is not allowed in all societies.

Yeah you are right about this. I agree. I hear some people that speak on tv that just takes things to far sometimes.

I think freedom of speech is very important in a country, for example a citizen should have the right to speak or critize the government so that the country can be improved, but there shoudl be limit to the freedom of speech so that when people is expressing their opinion om something, it should be based on the fact no on particular person so that no no will abuse the freedom to offend other people to get advantage .

i support this, coz with this freedom sometime we can get very good and smart ideas from any one and life will be beautifull. so we should feel and should have freedom of speech