Free Speech, and all it entails

Lawd Jesus news is at it again.



I was going to keep my mouth shut about this because mine seems to be an unpopular opinion, but y'know...since the story is on the news literally right now, I feel like giving my two cents on Free Speech and the Freedom of Expression artists so rely on.

I'm of the opinion that, why yes, I should be able to say whatever the fuck I feel like without worrying about offending someone. Because let's face it, the phrase "I'm offended" on the Internet has become a certain kind of Troll-Bait. Say you're offended on the Internet and you'll be bombarded with trolls shouting at you to get the fuck off the Internet and run back to ur mum.

I don't remember who said it first, but someone well-known said something to the effect of;
"You are free to say what you want, but you are not free from the consequences of that which you have said."

If I insulted someone's mother to their face they would beat the shit out of me. This isn't a breach of my freedom of speech, this is cause and effect. If someone had insulted MY mother to my face then I would've done the same damn thing, so why should I be surprised that someone else reacted to my statement the exact same way I would react if they'd said it to me?




The story on the news is about a "Draw Muhammad Contest" in Texas, where a bunch of cartoonists have gathered to draw the prophet Muhammad in cartoons. Predictably, some Muslim extremists weren't too happy about it and shot the place up.

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/d…
www.msnbc.com/msnbc/garland-te…
www.theguardian.com/us-news/20…
_{(nevermind that Texas is the Gun Capital of the U.S.)}

Nooowww...



Everybody remembers the  Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris. At least, everybody who values their free speech as an artist remembers them. I'm not downplaying how bad these shootings were; they were horrible. Innocent people died for exercising their freedom of expression, which is something that, in a perfect world, should never happen. But...we don't live in a perfect world, and the reality is that there are people who will kill you for speaking your mind/disrespecting something they hold sacred. The firestorm these shootings caused here on U.S. soil is testament that many people don't realize this fact.

I don't know about anyone else, but...well, if I knew that someone would kill me for drawing {insert thing}, then I wouldn't fucking draw it. That's just me. I kinda like living, and I can do that just fine without ever drawing Muhammad (or ever saying the n-word, for that matter).

Everyone I've said this to thought I was buying into the "fear mongering" that the media is spreading. I like to think of it as choosing not to throw a stone at a hornet's nest.

A lot of people online (specifically anyone thirteen and under) are under the impression that the  First Amendment gives them the absolute and unalienable right to state their opinions with no consequences. Oftentimes, these are the same group of kids who think disrespecting the military is a fad. So to these kids, I want to say; next time you want to draw Muhammad or call a black person an offensive racial slur, just remember that people literally died, and are dying, for your right to say it. The least you could do is think about what kind of effects your words (and actions) might have before you say them.








Edit:
People seem to be misinterpreting this Journal as either victim-blaming or "bowing to public pressure". So, I'll just sum up the whole thing right here;

I just ain't gonna draw Muhammad, y'all. However, just because I won't doesn't mean I'll try to stop others from doing it. What this whole Journal is about is realizing that Free Speech can have consequences.