A voice silenced is a step closer to Hell.

In class we were discussing something that I have always had a very passionate opinion on, and that is voice. We were supposed to read an essay about the importance of opposition. The essay was about how it is important to listen to opposing sides, even if you do not agree with them. It is called "The Indispensable Opposition." But what really got me was that in the very act of discussing this well thought out essay, the class displayed exactly what we were being warned about. 

A guy in my class was telling us all about his opinion and everyone started laughing because he had messed up in his words and was acting like a brainless jock (which he isn't). Everyone, even the teacher, began to laugh and would not continue to listen to him. Needless to say he had nothing to say after that. I could feel my jaw clench and anger begin to warm my chest.

There is a quote in this essay that I really enjoyed, and it goes " I may not agree with what you say but I will defend your right to say it to the death." I get soooooo angry when others try to silence the opposing opinions (or any opinion at all for that matter). Personally, I know that I do not have all the answers and that my thoughts are flawed. I do not pretend to think that I am all knowing and what everyone else has to say is of dross. I love to hear someone else's opinion because it helps me grow! I am like a really sharp piece of glass that has flung itself in the ocean so that my edges may be softened so I do not offend the whole reason why we are here. We are here to gain knowledge, to grow from each other, to become the best people we can be. 

In the past, and present, there are people I strongly disagree with. There are people that I may never see eye to eye with on some or all subjects, but I would NEVER want them to not say their opinion. Dictators were all about one voice being heard and once people actually spoke up, they were punished. Do we want to be like Hitler? How about Stalin? You may think "I could never be a mass murder", but once you silence another man's voice we turn into the animals that we so disgust. Socrates once said "When men are brought face to face with their opponents, forced to listen and learn to mend their ideas, they cease to be children and savages and begin to live like civilized men. Then only is freedom a reality, when men may voice their opinions because they must examine their opinions." And how true that is! 

I rarely find myself annoyed or angered by others, but when I hear them snuff out an outspoken word I almost get violent. I don't care if the other person sounds like a blithering idiot, but at least they have enough self respect to say something! In this world we are all about our rights and freedoms to speak. We are all about blogging (my little blog as a testimony to that fact). Were all about thinking for ourselves (although I don't see enough of that these days, were all a bunch of sheep being herded by the loudest speaker), and were all about OUR freedoms. What about the freedoms of others?

This essay, written by Walter Lippmann in 1939, also asks a wonderful question, and that is, what is the point of freedom of speech if no one listens? "What matters is not the utterance of opinions. What matters is the confrontation of opinions in debate. No man can care profoundly that every fool should say what he likes. Nothing has been accomplished if the wisest man proclaims his wisdom in the middle of the Sahara Desert."

I wish that I were given this subject to write about in class. If so, and if we were graded on mere passion, then I would get an A+. My grammar is always wanting, and my word choice can be superficial and fickle, but my heart hammers in chest as do my fingers on my keyboard. What is this world good for if we do not have the respect for others that we so desire. Sure, I may think that what you say may be atrocious, but say it anyways! Honesty is the crowning virtue in any man. If someone says something you disagree with, speak up! But when they respond to your rebuttal, LISTEN! "If we truly wish to understand how freedom is necessary in a civilized society, we must begin by realizing that, because freedom of discussion improves our own opinions, the liberties of other men are our own vital necessity." 

Don't be a pig and believe that what you say is the only importance to society. Freedom of speech also entails the freedom of discussion, the freedom to disagree, the freedom of lively conversation. Arguments may be uncomfortable, but when has growing ever been comfortable? I am all about peace and the getting along of others, but I am also for the growing of our minds and the breaking forth of prejudices and close-mindedness. I used to be afraid to say what I thought, but now, I cannot be silenced when I have something I want to say. But, when someone also has a desire to say something or to disagree with what I had said, I am all for it. Bring it on, because I need all the help I can get, but so can you. Stop picketing and start talking. Don't go into the argument with the thought that your opponent has nothing worth while to say, because then you become an animal, literately a pig. 

Picketing, backbiting, slandering, and such shows no strength of mind, class or intelligence at all, quite the opposite really. If you have something to say and you want to edify yourself with me, COME AND TALK WITH ME! Nothing like this has happened to me recently, but I have seen so many missed good discussions because someone was lazy or had "the indifference of an empty mind" to speak up. I am so sick and tired of the profession of intelligence when their "wisdom" is at the expense of walking over those that they deem lesser in aptitude. I want to smack them on the forehead and ask whether there really is anything in their noggin' as they so allege. Give me some proof that you have the strength of mind and character to shut your own mouth for a second to gain some kind of wisdom that is beyond yourself. 

http://grossmont.gcccd.cc.ca.us/bertdill/docs/IndispensableOpposition.pdf 

That is the essay. READ IT!