Free speech

Read Keith Windschuttle's article at this link:

The Adversary Culture

Extract:

"The survival of the Western principles of free inquiry and free expression now depend entirely on whether we have the intelligence to understand their true value and the will to face down their enemies."

This is only one sentence from a long article, every word of which is worth reading.

Free Speech

If we aren't allowed to say anything that might offend some other person or group, then what we have is not freedom of expression. It's hard to be right without upsetting those who are wrong. We must be allowed the freedom to be right - which includes the freedom to be wrong, since human beings are not omniscient. That means we require absolute freedom of expression.

It no longer matters whether the cartoons in the Danish newspaper are offensive or not. Every newspaper in the western world ought to publish them, on principle, to make it clear that freedom of speech is the principle at stake. Since no British newspaper has actually had the courage to do so, let bloggers who understand what individual rights are do it for them.