Speaking Freely

You may have noticed that I am a relatively frequent (ab)user of the word 'cunt'. There are at least two reasons for this. I happen to think that swearing is a useful tool in that it adds colour to language by expressing emotion, which is otherwise nigh on impossible to convey. I also happen to think that that good old staple swearword, 'fuck', is on its last legs. In an age when I can read an entire article on the word in my daily newspaper without having to shy away from the old dear sitting next to me on the tube, I can't help but think that somehow it's lost it's magic. Where's that oomf, that zzzing, that kapow!? Cunt, on the otherhand...well...let's just say that cunt is soooooo the new fuck.

You will forgive me, therefore, if I combine two old favourites of mine in the following sentence: Fred Phelps is a cunt! The holy and merciful Fred is also a kind of blogger. His wonderful blog can be found here. Let nobody say Fred doesn't make an effort to keep his blog up to date. Any fag haters out there might wish to review the current list of forth-coming pickets advertised:

1) Funeral of Army Spc. Marcelino R. Corniel
2) Miners Memorial Service
3) Funeral of Marine Cpl. Brett Lundstrom

So, family fun to be had by all there then! I might not be a great fan of war, but can you imagine going to mourn a family member lost in conflict (whether justified or not) and having to deal with Fred and his bunch of dimwit cretins as unwanted guests. What extraordinary wankers to take their grievences with society to a funeral! These people are after one thing and one thing alone: press coverage. They are not even human - let alone religious - in the way they deal with other people's suffering. "They turned America, over to the Fags; they're coming home, in body bags. " writes Phelps. Wordsworth eat your heart out.

It plays on my mind because I am a great believer in free speech and opponent of the limitation of liberty by law. Fred Phelps' incendiary nonsense seems at first glance to be calling out for a banning. It's inaccurate, inhumane, disgusting and hateful. Yet I think it would be a terrible mistake to try and legislate against it. Much like the new religious hatred bill, it would set a very dangerous precedent. In sheilding ideas under the umberella of the law, we protect them from legitimate scrutiny and criticism and provide them with a safe environment in which they might easily grow out of control. It has long been the case that any disagreement with Israel's policies in the occupied territories has been met with cries of antisemitism. This is a patently ludicrous but unfortunately often very effective form of defence. More recently, the chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, Trevor Philips, was accused of Islamophobia because he had the temerity to appeal to Muslim leaders to reiterate their opposition to terrorism. Religion is only an idea, albeit a very powerful one. It has no special status that demands it must be handled with kidgloves, let alone afforded legal protection. As David Hume was wont to say:

'We may observe, that, in all ages of the world, priests have been enemies to liberty; and it is certain, that this steady conduct of theirs must have been founded on fixed reasons of interest and ambition. Liberty of thinking, and of expressing our thoughts, is always fatal to priestly power, and to those pious frauds, on which it is commonly founded.'

I will not, therefore, be calling for the removal of Freddy's opinions from the Internet. I think he is a good reminder of how far we have come; and how far we have to go. I would prefer instead to call for the removal of any law that suppresses free speech. The separation of state and religion must be maintained at all costs. As an aside, anybody following the recent posts of NHS Blog Doctor will have noted the difficulties that a certain somebody's a-little-too-free speech got them into. I did think it was unfortunate that an opinion could not be stated without recourse to a disciplinary body, especially one as sinister as the Fitness to Practice committee.