Thoughts Are Free

"Die gedanken sind frei." -- Anti-Nazi song, 1942.

"You can't criticize him, he's the President." -- Student with Republican leanings.
"Not only do I have the right, I have an obligation to criticize when I disagree." -- Professor with Democratic leanings.

   To be faithful to an idea is one thing. To be an ideologue is quite another. Those who honor a commitment to their beliefs deserve respect, even when we disagree. But that commitment and respect works both ways. Ideologues too often demand not only respect, but also agreement and obedience, as if theirs is the only Great Truth.
   The U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of religion (First Amendment). But it also guarantees freedom from religion, and that came first (Article VI in the main body of that document). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, issued by the United Nations in 1948, has a similar guarantee.
   Both documents also guarantee freedom of speech and of the press. This implies the right to disagree and criticize others. But as with so many things, there are limits. There are lines -- some legal, some customary -- which one should not cross. A basic guideline, set out by John Stuart Mill in his essay On Liberty in 1859 is that of causing harm, verbal or physical, to others. Famously, one example is not being able to shout "Fire!" in a crowded theater, as set out in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1919 dealing with limits to freedom of speech. Curiously, the relevant case involved those who advocated resistance to a military draft in World War I. As it turned out, the war was over when the free speech issue was dealt with.

   Just to be clear, the U.S. Constitution does not grant the rights referred to the Bill of Rights. It guarantees protection of rights we already have. We are born with them, and government cannot take them away. There have been attempts, surely, and some have been successful for a time. But it's worth remembering the phrasing in the Constitution: "Congress shall make no law abridging ..." these rights. The Constitution prohibits the government from limiting or interfering with human rights already there.

   Recent news reports have described efforts in Cairo to silence or imprison a comedian for criticizing or insulting the president of Egypt. In the U.S., people criticize and make fun of the President every day. Especially Republicans, who routinely block, assail and criticize anything and everything President Obama, a Democrat, says and does. But when the president is a Republican, they claim criticism is not allowed.

   You can't have it both ways.