If you’re like me, you’re entirely sick of hearing about The Insurgent. However, somehow in the abundance of opinions voiced on this subject, a key point has been missed by all sides.
I stand united with the Students of Faith, as do most people, in my disgust and moral outrage at the cartoons of Jesus printed in The Insurgent. While this country enjoys the liberty of free speech and press, it shouldn’t preclude the expectation of respect and decency. However, what I feel many people are missing is that with the gift of free speech comes the curse of potential insult. The price we all pay for enjoying the freedom to express our opinions is the very real possibility that we will deem someone else’s views as offensive. Simply because a viewpoint – or in this case, a cartoon – is inflammatory is not justification for censorship.
I grew up in Chicago. Skokie, a nearby suburb, is home to one of the largest populations of Holocaust survivors in the country. Subsequently, neo-Nazis frequently choose this community as a site for their marches. As a concerned Jewish child, I remember asking my parents why the city would permit them to march. My parents replied that while we all see the sheer lunacy of their arguments, we don’t have the right to stop them just because we disagree with them.
While I completely support Students of Faith, along with all students who felt offended by The Insurgent’s comics, we cannot presume that we have the right to censor the publication simply because we find its tactics reprehensible. If we are a nation truly committed to freedom of expression, either all speech is acceptable or none of it is.
Over the past few weeks, two similarly controversial events have occurred on our campus: visits by the Genocide Awareness Project and University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill. I was extremely offended by pictures of Holocaust victims and lynched black men being used to promote the GAP agenda. However, the correct response is not calling for GAP or Churchill to be kicked off campus. Instead, we should be discussing the issues in a constructive manner.
Further, many students, myself included, were offended by prior statements made by Ward Churchill. That said, my outrage at Churchill doesn’t give me or anyone else the right to quiet his voice or keep him off campus. While I was outside of the EMU last Thursday talking with the College Republicans while they peacefully protested Churchill’s appearance, one member asked me if I agreed with Churchill when he called Sept. 11 victims “little Eichmanns.” I replied, “Of course not. That’s fucking crazy. But I defend his right to say it.”
That said, the guise of free speech shouldn’t give GAP, The Insurgent, Ward Churchill or any of us a blank check to be insulting or hurtful simply in the name of poor judgment. While all of these voices may have points, they’ve chosen to express them in a style so distasteful that it completely discredits any merits their argument may have held. If we have an opinion worthy of a public discourse, it is our responsibility to frame our argument in a constructive fashion rather than going for pure shock.
Now is the time for all of us, Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, Jews and gentiles, to stop using malicious rhetoric (or cartoons) to make our points. If we are ever to come to an understanding of each other, we must find a way to express our viewpoints in a manner that is tolerant and respectful. However, when groups choose to voice their beliefs in a distasteful style we shouldn’t attempt to censor or quiet their voice. We should instead respond with logic, calmness and reason. Free speech is both a tender and powerful cornerstone of this democracy. It is imperative that we protect it whenever it is used, even when it’s flaunted.