Today’s decision usurps the constitutional right of the people to decide whether to keep or alter the traditional understanding of marriage. The decision will also have other important consequences. It will be used to vilify Americans who are unwilling to assent to . . . Continue reading →
free speech
The Handwriting Is On The Wall
The handwriting is on the wall. You need only reflect on how a screaming mob managed to conjure up total surrender from Indiana Gov. Mike Pence so he would reject that state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Catholic Charities is closing its adoption . . . Continue reading →
Eliot: Half The Harm Done In This World
Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don’t mean to do harm—but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they . . . Continue reading →
College Administrators Are Not Kings
One of America’s worst problems today is that people in official positions (university presidents, police officers, and others) think they are above the law and never accountable when they act illegally. The decision in Barnes puts college officials on notice that qualified . . . Continue reading →
Supreme Court In 1957: Academic Freedom Is Self-Evident
The State Supreme Court thus conceded without extended discussion that petitioner’s right to lecture and his right to associate with others were constitutionally protected freedoms which had been abridged through this investigation. These conclusions could not be seriously debated. Merely to summon . . . Continue reading →
They Will Help You Overcome Facts
But every word on the front page is contradicted by the facts,” I objected. Edgar gave me a tolerant smile. “You still have the mechanistic outlook, he said, and then proceeded to give me the dialectical interpretation of the facts . . . . . Continue reading →
A Muslim Approaches The Truth About Global Islamism And Jihad
(HT: @muddygravel) It should be added that the Ft Hood and San Bernardino attacks and others suggest that the line between ideological Islamism and violent jihad is fluid and rapidly crossed. The high percentage of Islamic Study Centers (mosques) in the USA . . . Continue reading →
From The Campus To The Culture: The Potential Death Of Free Speech
“If you believe as I do that ideas have consequences, what happens on American college campuses will eventually percolate its way down and through the culture as a whole. And if we lose free speech on college campuses, we will eventually lose . . . Continue reading →
Before Political Correctness
If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion, or force citizens to confess by word or act . . . Continue reading →
Taking The Temperature Of Free Speech
When was the last time you stopped yourself from saying something you believed to be true for fear of being punished or criticized for saying it? If you live in America, it probably hasn’t been long. That’s not just a talking point . . . Continue reading →
The LGBT War On Free Thought And Speech
The vitriolic reaction of the LGBT lobby to honesty from Americans about their consciences, religious beliefs, scientific knowledge, and political stances shows that their agenda boils down to shutting down free speech. This sounds counter-intuitive. After all, the media and Hollywood conditioned . . . Continue reading →
Socialism: The Utopia That Ends In Misery
No doubt the stated intentions are oh-so-pure and oh-so-good, like “liberte, egalite, fraternite.” It’s the sort of compassion Flannery O’Connor wrote of when she noted that “tenderness leads to the gas chamber.” That’s because, at the end of the day, socialism is . . . Continue reading →
Governmental Interpretation Of Religion? A Constitutional Problem
Almost immediately after the attacks on 9/11/2001 federal officials, beginning with the President of the United States, assured the world that the views held by and motivating the attacks by those who perpetrated the attacks did not represent true or genuine Islam. . . . Continue reading →
Civil Liberties Imperiled On American University Campuses
The survey results establish with data what has been clear anecdotally to anyone who has been observing campus dynamics in recent years: Freedom of expression is deeply imperiled on U.S. campuses. In fact, despite protestations to the contrary (often with statements like . . . Continue reading →
A California Court Defends Free Speech And Religious Freedom
The State of California brings this action under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, Civil Code section 51, against defendants Cathy’s Creations, Inc. and Cathy Miller. Miller refuses to design and create wedding cakes to be used in the celebration of same sex . . . Continue reading →
No Safe Spaces
Justice Thomas: “I Warned You”
In Obergefell, I warned that the Court’s decision would “inevitabl[y] . . . come into conflict” with religious liberty, “as individuals . . . are confronted with demands to participate in and endorse civil marriages between same-sex couples.” 576 U. S., at . . . Continue reading →
Whoever Controls The Algorithm Controls What You See
And They Who Control The Algorithm Do Not Approve Of You
The Corrosive Consequences Of Speech Codes
Here’s the column that got me fired from the Denver Post. I’ve been a regular columnist for the Denver Post since 2016. …Plain talk that doesn’t conform to the newspeak law of “use only the words mandated by the perpetually offended.” So, . . . Continue reading →
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More On Cancel Culture
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Steven Pinker is correct. It is Orwellian to demand jot and tittle conformity (in civil life—we live in a twofold kingdom).
It is also Orwellian to deny that “cancel culture” exists. Certainly it exists. It is gaslighting to contribute to it by denying that it exists. The evidence for its existence is right before us. About 15 signatories to the recent public letter defending free speech remained anonymous for fear of the consequences of being found to be politically incorrect.
Example: I am thinking of a simple declarative sentence that is undeniably true and reasonable but to say it risks the irrational wrath of the mob. I will not say it now because the potential cost outweighs the benefit.
That is cancel culture.