Freedom of Speeh

There's a lot in the press about "Pastor" Terry Jones and his desire to indulge in a good, old-fashioned, book burning. I can't help wondering how much of this furore has been caused by the rest of the world jumping in to condemn him. Don't get wrong I think he's a complete loony, but I do just wonder, what if everyone had ignored him - he'd just have been a sad, lonely, deluded old man with a small fire.

There has been some use of "Freedom Of Speech" as a defense for his actions. Freedom of speech is not a defense for burning someone else's holy book. It a defense for saying you don't agree with what's written in the book, but not for burning it. However I do worry that people might seek to restrict true freedom of speech to try and stop people like this.

I was lucky enough to be exposed to true Freedom of Speech when I was a student in London. It wasn't in the university, it wasn't in the Houses of Parliament, it wasn't in some great debating hall. It was outside our local supermarket. Every Saturday mornings, when we went shopping for our weekly groceries, there was a gentleman outside on the pavement, with a bicycle clips on his trousers and a bicycle propped against the curb. He was selling the Morning Star. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, the Morning Star is a communist paper in the UK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_Star_%28UK_newspaper%29). Bear in mind, this was the height of the Thatcherite era and Conservatism in the UK ie right-wing. But here was this man, selling a left-wing paper, on the pavement outside a supermarket.

And he was doing it with a quiet, profound dignity that had an enormous effect on me then, and still does 25 years later. He wasn't pushy, he wasn't loud, he wasn't in your face, he certainly wasn't threatening to burn anything. He was just quietly selling his newspaper, and his views, with such catchphrases as "Read the paper Thatcher loves to hate", or "Read about Thatcher's crocodile tears". No one opposed him, no one tried to move him on, no one tried to shut him up. The local police when they appeared just chatted to him. He didn't believe in policies of the government and he was opposing it...peacefully and democratically. And he was there for at least the two years that I lived there.

I do not know the identity of this man - I never spoke to him, but I am deeply grateful to him for teaching me about true freedom of speech and democracy. It is people like this and their views that we must protect, despite the fact that this means we have to put up with the loonies.

I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. - Voltaire