Should Hate Be Considered a Freedom of Speech: A Bible Lesson From The West Wing
This ” The West Wing” I reference in the title is the tv show- the original Aaron Sorkin genius before his show “The Newsroom”. I’ve been watching a lot of “The West Wing” lately and came across this lovely little gem seen above not too long ago. It makes me think of the recent controversy with “Duck Dynasty”.
I haven’t read exactly what this guy said and I really don’t care to. What is more disturbing to me is to see all of my friends posting through social media how horrible A&E is for condemning what this character, this person on their tv show that Phil signed a contract for- that must have included some kind of clause about what he can say publicly- to see my friends standing up and saying what a great Christian man he is so say homosexuality is a sin.
When did it become OK for Christians to condemn others?
And yet it has been this way for centuries. I would argue this first came about with the rise of the Roman Catholic Church, some time after the Council of Nicena- for those of you who need a history lesson brush up this would be when the bishops around the world attempted to meet and come to a consensus on the tenants of Christianity. Shocklingly enough- there has not always been agreement within the Christian church about what we believe. I bring this up to prove the point that we have not always agreed on the very basic principles of what we believe as a religion.
Then there is the issue of the fact that a TV station does not have to let their on air personalities say whatever they want. The thing is, people do have the right to their own opinions and to speak them- but that doesn’t mean any TV networks have to air them. These people are paid personalities and as such they must abide by the rules of the stations that air them. If they have an issue with it they can go elsewhere to a station that doesn’t mind. There are contacts that they must abide by, regardless of our own opinions and regardless of theirs.
What I don’t understand is how there are people like I like and respect that are still ok with hate speech? To me it’s no different than those who spoke against black people during the Civil Rights movement.
Also: why is it ok to hate people and hide it behind the Bible? I used to believe all of that nonsense of I condemn the sin and not the sinner.
And yet at the same time, in this country people have the right to say whatever they wish. The KKK has the right to march within towns and to say what they want- it is when hate speech transforms in to a physical action against others that it becomes a crime. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 states that federal prosecution may happen when a person “willingly injures, intimidates or interferes with another person, or attempts to do so, by force because of the other person’s race, color, religion or national origin” (source: Wikipedia)- this was further defined to also include those of a homosexual orientation with the Matthew Sheppard Act. So, yes this Phil has the right to say what he wants- but does that make it right?
But I have a much easier resolution now: love. Love all regardless. It sounds easy but in fact it’s really hard. There are people I very much dislike and I do not want to love them- but that is not what God commands us to do.
In this Christmas season, with the anniversary of the birth of the Christ child upon us- an anniversary which by the way also coincides with former pagan holidays of the Winter Solstice and most likely was NOT the actual birth date of Jesus Christ- perhaps we should all do our best to simply love rather than to hate.
Hate is hate- regardless of if you hide behind the Bible and preach it as God’s word or not.
UPDATE: I do always love to read what my friends in the legal community think about these issues, and even though I feel like my Mercer Political Science classes gave me a good background to understand all sides of these debates, for those of you who would like to read an opinion from someone who has passed the Bar Exam- please read what David Dorer wrote on the topic:
http://daviddorer.com/duck-dynasty-v-ae-a-first-amendment-primer/
Love to all y’all,
Molly
