Ahh... the Red Writing Hood made me find freedom of speech quotations. Not many though.. =)
A people which is able to say everything becomes able to do everything.
Napoleon I (1769-1821) Napoleon Bonaparte. French general, First Consul (
People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid.
Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) Danish philosopher and writer.
Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself.
Salman Rushdie (1948-?) Anglo-Indian novelist.
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Voltaire (1694-1778) French writer and historian.
If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.
George Washington (1732-1799) First President of the USA.
A people which is able to say everything becomes able to do everything.
Napoleon I (1769-1821) Napoleon Bonaparte. French general, First Consul (
People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid.
Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) Danish philosopher and writer.
Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself.
Salman Rushdie (1948-?) Anglo-Indian novelist.
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Voltaire (1694-1778) French writer and historian.
If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.
George Washington (1732-1799) First President of the USA.
Daniel: So, what's the point of all of these quotes? Well, this entire blog was founded on the presupposition that everyone has the right of freedom of speech (which I and hopefully others would soon define).
All of these quotes (I'm still trying to figure out what Kierkegaard meant though, help me Hannah!) basically are bits and pieces of the philosophy with which this blog is built on.
Unfortunately, in Malaysia as in other countries, not many people are happy with such an idea. Take for example Salman Rushdie; (in)famous for his work "The Satanic Verses". While it was certainly inflammatory to many, indeed, blasphemy, nevertheless the reaction was certainly unreasonable (and caused harm to many, in fact).
I think at this point we should take into account the quote above attributed to Voltaire. Marina Mahathir wrote in the The Star awhile back about how Christians responded to the publication of the Da Vinci Code (by Dan Brown) and contrasted it to the Muslim response to the Danish cartoons depicting aspects of Islam, which they considered blasphemy.
While both works were insulting/blasphemous to their respective religions, nevertheless there is a marked contrast between the violent reaction of some Muslim extremists to the critical but nevertheless reasonable response by Christians. Indeed, many scholarly books have appeared in an attempt to counter Dan Brown's claims in his book.
I think this should be what our Government should do. Rather than rely on censorship and on other extremes such as the ISA, I think that the best response in handling such issues would be to present a counter-argument to the opposition, rather than simply waving away and/or stifling their opinions.
And this is, I think, the spirit of the freedom of speech, where everyone has a right to his own opinion. And we may disagree, but we do so with reason, care and respect.
All of these quotes (I'm still trying to figure out what Kierkegaard meant though, help me Hannah!) basically are bits and pieces of the philosophy with which this blog is built on.
Unfortunately, in Malaysia as in other countries, not many people are happy with such an idea. Take for example Salman Rushdie; (in)famous for his work "The Satanic Verses". While it was certainly inflammatory to many, indeed, blasphemy, nevertheless the reaction was certainly unreasonable (and caused harm to many, in fact).
I think at this point we should take into account the quote above attributed to Voltaire. Marina Mahathir wrote in the The Star awhile back about how Christians responded to the publication of the Da Vinci Code (by Dan Brown) and contrasted it to the Muslim response to the Danish cartoons depicting aspects of Islam, which they considered blasphemy.
While both works were insulting/blasphemous to their respective religions, nevertheless there is a marked contrast between the violent reaction of some Muslim extremists to the critical but nevertheless reasonable response by Christians. Indeed, many scholarly books have appeared in an attempt to counter Dan Brown's claims in his book.
I think this should be what our Government should do. Rather than rely on censorship and on other extremes such as the ISA, I think that the best response in handling such issues would be to present a counter-argument to the opposition, rather than simply waving away and/or stifling their opinions.
And this is, I think, the spirit of the freedom of speech, where everyone has a right to his own opinion. And we may disagree, but we do so with reason, care and respect.
No comments:
Post a Comment