Wash our tongues with soap

This stuff used to cure just about everything . . .

It’s common in the democracies to hear someone say, without contradiction, that people should be free to express their opinions without fear of reprisal. At the same time, it’s easy to support this view by pointing out that its opposite—the repression and punishment of expressed, alternate worldviews—is a trademark of tyranny. When we viewed the Soviet Union as a repressive dictatorship, we coined a joke: In the USSR you can say anything . . . once. 

We have slander and libel laws, however, that restrict malicious speech and writing. We generally approve the constraint on speech and writing that foster prejudice, discrimination against identifiable minorities. Blabbing state secrets is treason. False advertising is punishable. Racial slurs on the sports field result in suspensions and/or, possibly, a fist in the chops.

I don’t mean to argue the merits, the downsides of embedding “free speech” in bills of rights or the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, nor do I wish to speculate on the exceptions that restrict free speech. Article 2 of our Charter says:

2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:

(a) freedom of conscience and religion;

(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;

(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and

(d) freedom of association.

One might well ask whether or not the expression, fundamental freedoms, has any meaning in reality. Supposedly we’re free to think about committing the perfect crime, we’re free to believe that all non-Christians are on a march to hell, we’re free to hold the opinion that white persons are genetically superior to non-whites and we’re free to express these thoughts, opinions and beliefs, verbally or in writing—without restriction. Freely.

Owning a knife is also fundamentally free in Canada; waving it around in the mall or using it to move up in the line at the grocery store is another story. Even the simplest among us should be able to comprehend the difference, and to appreciate the admonition of James to the early church: “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless,” and, “Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!” (James 1:26; James 3:4-5)

Whether it’s a knife or a tongue, we use our tools to further what’s in our hearts. If living in peaceful, functioning community is our deep desire, the tongue and the knife will be used thoughtfully and gently to support that desire. When the breakup of tranquility, the vanquishing of a real or perceived enemy is our mindset, we use our tools differently; aggressively, impetuously.

I would rather live in a country that names fundamental freedoms—difficult to uphold as they may be—than in a country that doesn’t.

But. Article 2 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms could do with an additional item (e): the freedom to bite one’s own tongue—at least until the freedom to think has been thoroughly exercised!