It seems like most individuals feel that “rights” are absolute as long as those rights are the sole ownership of that individual. The last few years have gone a long way to make people feel like their rights have been stomped on by our friends in Washington but in the same sentence the phrase, “it’s my right” has been uttered more and more and a daily basis and the voices seem to be getting louder.
When do my rights end and your rights begin? Who has the right to limit rights and why is everyone claiming offense when some one exercises their right? For this post I’ll be focusing on the right to speech (also pertaining to the right to protest.)
Although many opinions are outside of what is considered normal and most people would find them out of touch with today’s politically correct baseline, the person who has formulated that point of view still has the fundamental right to express their opinions in public or private; no matter how offensive it could be to others. If not, we are allowing a restriction of the bill of rights and when we make a decision that one opinion doesn’t deserve to be heard we ultimately open ourselves up to having our own opinion restricted.
What ever happened to open debate? If you offer up an opinion that I think is fundamentally, spiritually or politically incorrect I’ll retort with my opinion and in most cases an agreement to disagree will be the end result. At least there is a result and everyone had their chance to be heard. But today, we cry out for criminal or civil court cases to be brought against those who offense our sensibilities. Little or no attempt is made to observe, consider and accept or reject an ideal. It’s the “my way or the high way” mentality that puts us in jeopardy because sooner or later someone will come along who feels strongly that you shouldn’t be allowed to express your personal opinion.
People who perpetuate racism, sexism and anti-government ideals should have their day on the soap box just like everyone else. In my opinion, the banning, persecution and PROCECUTION of any non-violent protest should be immediately eliminated. Civil retort and debate should be the platform of reformists in this country. Conservative, liberal, left wing, right wing, fundamentalist, extremist and everyone in-between has a basic right to speak what they believe, even if it’s to the determent of others. After all, absolute is absolute!
Even if the protest is taken into the churches, a noose is strung up or people dressed like dead soldiers lay in the streets, if it’s kept non-violent then it’s all part of the civil liberties that we all feel belong to only those who share our points of view.
Ultimately it’s up to use to sway the opinions of those we disagree with and it’s almost impossible to do so when that person feels pressed against the wall and they aren’t being listened to. Those who feel they are being listened to tend to listen too.
I implore everyone who reads this to find the time to write back. I welcome criticism, complements and offer up my tendency to debate for your reading pleasure. I practice what I preach and will not restrict posts on my site as long as they remain on topic and have some point to make.
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