Is Free Speech Really Free Anymore?
Twittergate, hate speech, censorship, and truth in a post-modern era
I was 23 years old when the Westboro Baptist Church picketed my friend Toby’s funeral.
Toby had been killed in Afghanistan when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded next to his humvee. He was only 30 years old at the time and left behind a wife and young son. Having returned from Afghanistan just a year earlier, my unit had charged me with leading the 21-gun salute at his funeral.
While waiting for the memorial to begin, I made the mistake of glancing out the window to observe the protesters lined across the street. They held signs that read, “Thank God for dead soldiers,” “God hates fags,” and “Thank God for IEDs.” Enraged and grieving, I wanted to walk across the street and start a fight, when my team sergeant stopped me.
“Let it go, Sledge,” he told me in an icy tone. I wanted to retort, but he pushed a hand against my chest. “Toby would want them to have that freedom, as dumb, painful, and irresponsible as it is. We fight so that morons have the freedom to be morons. You get that, right?”
I shifted my gaze downward and nodded. “It’s a slippery slope,” my team sergeant continued. “You tell one person they can’t say something, and soon it becomes everyone.”