Tag Archives: free speech

The limits to “ protected speech”

In the wake of Charlie Hebdo we are hearing a lot about “protected speech,” the sort we congratulate ourselves on having in this and other “free, democratic” countries. (And deplore the lack of in, say, Castro’s Cuba.) The term is commonly held to apply to a wide variety of speech but to exclude the sort […]

February 9, 2015 – 11:21 am | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged | Comments (0)

Hebdo:Free speech is not a damsel in distress

About the Charlie Hebdo massacre, what is to be said beyond the widespread righteous indignation over what seems to most in the West a shockingly—and tragically– out-of-proportion reaction to mere cartoons? One thing seems clear, Charlie Hebdo exposes the limits and naivete of the old saying: “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words […]

January 23, 2015 – 1:29 pm | By Brent | Posted in Columns | Tagged , , | Comments (0)