TOD 11.27.07

“I disagree with what you’re saying, but I’d fight to the death for your right to say it.” To me, this has always been the heart of the American philosophy of freedom and tolerance. Unfortunately, I see a lot of people these days who seem more prone to saying, “I disagree with what you’re saying, but I’ll fight to the death to stop you from saying it.” Although I hope we all recognize this as tyranny rather than tolerance, I think there’s some merit in considering which freedoms we value enough to defend when people use them differently than we do.

For instance, I wouldn’t lift even a finger to protect the right to publish pornography. However, I would risk my life to protect someone’s right to read the Koran. I would never shop at a store owned by racists, but I would in fact put my life at risk to protect people in believing that all races are not equal. I support making abortion illegal, but I would gladly risk my life protecting the publication of books advocating evolution.

See, it’s easy to defend what we admire. But until you have identified at least some things you hate but believe in protecting, you have not actually embraced the idea of freedom. Giving other people the freedom to do as you would have them do isn’t really much of a definition of freedom.