This past week, Bill Maher, comedian and HBO talk show host spoke what some people claim were words that should have him fired. Maher during the "New Rules" segment of his show went on a rant about the sins of the Catholic Church, specifically relating to the child sex abuse scandal that rocked the church in the late 1990's and into the beginning of the new millennium. He called the Pope a Nazi for his actions during WWII and stated that if the head of a major corporation that sponsored day care for thousands of children was found to have covered up the sex abuse of their employees in the day care centers that CEO would be in jail and so should the Pope be in jail.
I can appreciate Bill's anger at how the Catholic Church has handled the sex abuse scandal. Certainly, shipping known pedophile priests to new assignments where they would be in close contact with children in other parishes, stalling and denying until the statute of limitations had run out, and then abdicating any moral integrity on the issue by trying to buy their way out of the scandal is deplorable and deserves our contempt. I don't know if I would have addressed it in the tone or manner that Maher did, but I can appreciate where he is coming from.
However, there are those offended parties who can not appreciate Maher's anger and outrage. They are offended and are calling for Maher's job. They believe he crossed an invisible politically correct line and should lose his job because of it. These people are of the same mold that called for Don Imus to get fired last spring after making his unfortunate comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team. I ask these people, is free speech a lost idea? Is this not the nation that said in the words of Andrew Sheppard, celebrate the right of an individual to stand up and advocate what you yourself would spend a lifetime advocating against?
When as a nation did we become a place where people could not speak their mind, no matter how reprehensible those words were? Many on the right and in the AM talk radio realm are decreeing the lack of outrage about these comments from the mainstream media as a validation of the culture war that is going on in the country. I agree that Christians do have a lot to be upset about; certainly they are marginalized by the mainstream media in this country and portrayed as kooks, irrational, un-intelligent, and rigid moralists. Those on the radio this morning claim that if the same comments were made about Jews or Mohamed, that Maher would already be fired and the outrage would be as hot as a back blast.
I can't say for certain if that line of thought is realistic or not, but what I do know is that it shouldn't matter. America is the land of the free and we should be able to say what we want, when we want without fear of losing our jobs based on our opinions. This should be especially true of those in the entertainment industry who are paid to share their opinions and commentary on the world with us. There is no doubt that there is a line that shouldn't be crossed. That is a line of common decency and respect, it shouldn't be crossed, but when it is or when you believe it is, the answer is not to silence the violator.
Silence is not the answer! Debate, education, and personal choice are the answer. Your choices are abundant, you can launch a PR campaign, you can start a blog, you can challenge the individual to a debate, you can voice your opposition, you can protest outside the studio. Additionally, you educate your own children and where applicable friends and colleagues that you have influence with to why the things espoused by those you disagree with are wrong and why your opinion is right. Lastly, you can choose not to support them by cancelling your HBO subscription or boycotting the corporations that buy advertising during that program and you let those companies know you are boycotting and why. You protest in a civil manner, but you do not silence, because some day your own opinion may be the one others want to silence.
3 comments:
Not a bad article. Free speech is certainly a topic of heated debate these days. Although I would like to say I believe in free speech and wish to defend it interminably, it is difficult to look at a situation such as Don Imus and not feel partly justified in his dismissal. Clearly, in that case, his offensive and derogatory comments were uncalled for and inexcusable. That said, he can still be found on other media outlets - there's no need to provide a willing mainstream media outlet for him to dispose his offensive views. Those are just a few of my thoughts... take from them what you will.
Blair,
While I appreciate the comments and thoughts, I think you might have missed the point. The point is no matter how offensive someones words may be, to silence them is not the answer. The answer is to shout from the roof tops your objections to their words and make your words just as powerful or more so. It is from the isolation of silence and subjugation that the Osama Bin Ladens and the Timothy McVeighs of the world are born.
Thanks for reading, I look forward to more comments!
Double B
Forgive my delay in commenting on this post. I just discovered your blog and must say I think it is excellent. Free speech is a topic I feel very strongly about and after reading this post I just can't help myself, albeit belatedly. I hold freedom of speech to be the most fundamental of rights. I believe even the most liberal of courts and legislatures do not do justice to the words of the First Amendment that freedom of speech shall not be abriged. Even long upheld time, place and manner restrictions are an abridgement. However, the fundemental fact remains for this most fundamental of rights, the First Amendment only applies to the government; not HBO and not advertisers.
I personally would never call for the firing or even disciplining of someone who said something with which I disagreed. But if I did choose to do so, I think it would be within my right to not listen. The Bill Maher, or Don Imus, or fill in the blank, episode is a prime example of the free market working exactly as it should. People watch HBO, or listen to talk radio, to be entertained. Once they are no longer entertained by what is being said, they have every right to stop watching. And advertisers have every right to be worried about that. And if the consumer is offended by what is said, than advertiseres should be concerned about the appearance of supporting the offensive comments. It is almost paridoxical that the same Amendment which protects speech protects the boycotts that occur when speech is offensive.
You say that silence is not the answer. Why not? Is not the actions the public takes to silence those that offend them, an expression also protected under the First Amendment? The arm of the law cannot say "shut up," but why can't a million screaming voices?
Bill Maher has every right to say what he said. But he does not have the right to be paid to say it. That is a decision for his bosses. You have every right to curse out your boss, and she has every right to fire you.
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